Torment and Turnips
by michelle-31a
Summary: Cho looks on with apathy as things go from bad to worse for Luna, while watching her growing friendship with Harry with conflicting emotions...
1. Default Chapter

TORMENT AND TURNIPS  
  
CHAPTER 1 – NEVER TRUST A POLTERGEIST  
  
She left the collective murmuring of Professor Firenze's Divination class behind her, quickly making a beeline for the staircase at the far end of the hall. There was no time to waste; she'd resolved to go to the library and finish her half completed Potions essay, due that very afternoon.  
  
The last thing she wished for was to give that vile Snape any excuse to berate her publicly. Though her marks in Potions had always been good, it wasn't because she'd found the subject particularly interesting, but more so because she was firmly determined to avoid the sinister teacher's infamous ire.  
  
Blast Quidditch practice, she thought in frustration, quickly passing a slow-moving pair of first year Hufflepuffs as she made her way quickly down the hall. Had it not been for the lengthy sessions at the Pitch during the weekend she would've had her assignment completed long before now. As it was, she had barely an hour's grace before the paper became due, and she very much doubted that Professor Snape would be in any way charitable if she were tardy, even if she was Head Girl for her House.  
  
She sighed as she exited the staircase on the upper level, the library door beckoning just a short distance down the corridor. She could see two students standing near its entrance, chatting amicably.  
  
She stopped in her tracks, her grip on her books tightening subconsciously as she recognized the pair. She was only dimly aware of the lunch bell ringing in the distance as she watched Harry smiling at something Loony Lovegood was recounting with obvious enthusiasm.  
  
Look at her, she thought, ingratiating herself to him like that...  
  
She swallowed hard as her stomach twisted painfully. A couple of Slytherins also heading for the library passed by on either side of her, looking back at her curiously, standing as she was, as unmoving as Rowena Ravenclaw's statue in the middle of the corridor.  
  
She took a deep breath and quickly decided to follow the black and green- clad students, hoping she would pass less conspicuously with them unknowingly acting as impromptu shields, of a sort. She wasn't even entirely sure why she felt the need to hide, but...  
  
Still, she felt a strange burning sensation sweep through her whenever her eyes fell on Loony Lovegood. How had she, of all people, managed to slip into Harry's inner circle? The girl clearly craved attention, what with her absurd necklaces, oversized hats, and countless other ridiculous accoutrements. Couldn't Harry see that?! Why, oh why was he encouraging her??  
  
She followed the Slytherins closely as she passed between Harry and Luna into the library, keeping her blank gaze firmly focused on the backs of her escorts, though her ears nevertheless strained to listen to the conversation in progress, managing to catch but a few of Loony's words:  
  
"-- favorite food is turnips, you see? Daddy and I started growing some out back this past summer, so that when -- "  
  
She frowned after the door closed behind her, snuffing out the rest of the conversation, the tightness in her chest easing only slightly. What on Earth had Loony been talking about? Since when had Harry been interested in horticulture, anyway?  
  
No matter, she thought, forcing the notion aside as she felt her face becoming rather flush. If he wanted to waste his time yakking away with Loony Lovegood he was welcome to her.  
  
She looked around for an empty table, finding a free spot in one of the aisles between the History and Political sections. She sat at the far end next to the rain-splattered window and set her books aside before unrolling her parchment.  
  
Though her work was urgent, she found herself looking more often through the window at the distant rain-soaked pitch than at her assignment. Even though there was no one to be seen outside, sensibly enough, given the cold and constant drizzle that hadn't let up since early morning. Even so, she found it difficult to concentrate on her work, what with her mind drifting off into other matters.  
  
What does he see in her anyway? she thought. It couldn't be for her personality, that was certain. The girl could only be one of two things: either a certifiable loon if she really believed in those ridiculous stories of hers, or a lying attention-seeker if she wasn't. Neither one was a very desirable trait, so far as Cho was concerned.  
  
But then, what else was there? Her looks? Hardly. While pretty enough in a vaguely rustic way, she was no Fleur Delacourt, either. What's more, she had absolutely no presentation, no notion of fashion sense, other than a screwball penchant for legume accessories and mismatched garments. Cho was certain that the only thing keeping her from looking like a total clown was the school's uniform requirements. And to top it off, she had no colour at all, other than a slight natural blush in her cheeks. And that hair...  
  
What a waste, thought Cho. What was the point of letting it grow so long only to do nothing whatsoever with it!  
  
I mean, why bother?  
  
Loony Lovegood had all the sophistication of a paper bag in a sea of silk purses, she concluded. Little wonder no one had asked her to the Yule Ball! What an embarrassment that would be, walking into the ball with that on your arm...  
  
So given all these undeniable facts, why had Harry taken such an inexplicable liking to her? Sure, she'd accompanied him and his friends to that much ballyhooed excursion at the Ministry of Magic the year before, but what did that prove? Aside from her gullibility, that is?  
  
Cho was startled from her dark musings by the sudden sharp sound of a small sparrow striking the window just inches away. After a breathless moment or two to regain her senses, she leaned over and pressed her face up against the glass, hoping the little bird hadn't been gravely injured. For a moment she feared the tiny sparrow might have plunged all the way to the soaked grass two floors below, but it was with tangible relief that she saw it soar back up and away from the castle, watching it until it finally flew out of sight into the grey, rainy sky.  
  
She sighed and turned back to her parchment. She blinked at it, suddenly realizing how little progress she'd made since she'd arrived.  
  
Come on, get a grip, she thought to herself angrily as she dipped her quill determinedly in the inkwell. She held the tip of her gyrfalcon feather above the parchment, trying to force her Ravenclaw brain to come up with just one sentence to get her going.  
  
Oh, even just one word, she pleaded to herself.  
  
So concentrated on finding that elusive word was Cho that she hadn't noticed the drop of ink slowly seep from her quill until it splattered down in a big blot onto her parchment.  
  
Oh for --  
  
She brusquely set her quill back into the inkwell and drew her wand, holding it above the offending black blotch in the middle of her assignment.  
  
"Scourgify," she voiced softly.  
  
A brief yellow glow enveloped her parchment. She blinked, wide-eyed and horrified at the sight of the now completely inkless paper, realizing she'd just lost whatever slim chance she still had at submitting her assignment on time. She dropped her wand, hearing it clatter on the tabletop as she put both hands on her forehead in disbelief.  
  
Oh, well that was absolutely brilliant, she thought hotly. Good going, Chang!  
  
She abruptly stuffed the now blank parchment back into her bag. There was no point even trying to finish her assignment at this point, she thought angrily.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye she caught a movement from the window, jerking her head around angrily to see Loony Lovegood walking serenely in the direction of Hagrid's hut, a small, tattered canvas bag in hand. With every few steps she would spin around with arms extended and gaze up at the drizzling heavens, though for what reason Cho couldn't possibly fathom. She hadn't even bothered to cast a water-repelling charm, she noticed.  
  
Damn you, thought Cho furiously. If it wasn't for you –  
  
"Look at her," a voice intoned from the other side of the bookshelves directly opposite Cho. "What a freakin' idiot! Makes you wonder what the Hat was thinking when it sorted her into Ravenclaw, don't it?"  
  
Cho became still and listened attentively at the chuckled reaction.  
  
"Well, she won't be dancing much after tonight," the second voice replied. "Ivan got the Veritaserum."  
  
"No way! Seriously?" the first voice asked. "You're sure Snape won't notice?"  
  
Cho strained to recognize the voice, thinking for a moment that it sounded a bit like Stewart Ackerly's. But whoever it was, she was going to have to report this. Veritaserum was a strictly controlled substance –  
  
"Nah," the second voice responded, "he left a fake vial in its place. He'll take the real one back tonight. Don't worry, ol' Snape won't even realize it ever left his office."  
  
Cho's eyes widened. What on Earth could they possibly be planning? She wondered - if she warned Snape, might he possibly forgive the tardiness of her assignment?  
  
"He will if it's half empty," the first voice countered. "He might use some of it on us to find out who took it, and then it'll be detention for a week, at the very least...or expulsion, more likely!"  
  
"Will you stop with the bellyaching?" said the second voice tiredly. "I'm not an idiot, you know. I read up on it, just tree drops of the stuff will make you spill your guts out. He'll never even notice."  
  
There was a momentary pause. "Three drops? Wow, I knew it was powerful stuff, but – "  
  
"Better believe it," the second voice answered. "Oh and we even got Peeves on board; he'll put the three drops into her drink at dinner tonight, and then the fun begins!"  
  
"Hee hee," the first voice chuckled. "Ask her about those Tusked Snorkbacks she's always going on about!"  
  
Cho blinked. They were talking about Luna, they had to be! It would be quite a sight, she mused, to see Loony finally admit publicly all the fabrications she'd been spewing out all this time. Even Harry would come to see her for the lying fibber she was. Even he couldn't be that blind!  
  
"That's first item on the list," the second voice intoned. "But we won't have to try too hard. The moment anybody says anything to her she's going to make a right fool out of herself, mark my words."  
  
"Cool!" exclaimed the first voice. "It's about time, too. She's been getting on my nerves for the longest time, with that my Daddy-is-perfect stuff of hers. It'll be great to finally get some payback!"  
  
Cho felt a grin creeping into her features. Oh, how right he was! She quickly put aside any notion of warning the Potions Master; one botched assignment was a small price to pay to see Loony Lovegood finally put in her place, she decided.  
  
"And that's just the start," the second voice stated. "Matt and I were talking with Orla and the others last night. You know how she always pretends nothing bugs her? Well we're gonna see just how long she can keep that little act up...we're going to keep it up till she cracks, just you wait. We've got a bunch of stuff planned already."  
  
"Wicked!" said the second voice gleefully. "But hey – isn't she already cracked?"  
  
The two voices laughed softly as Cho found herself strangely tempted to join in. But no, she was Head Girl, after all, it wouldn't be appropriate. But nothing said she couldn't watch and enjoy the spectacle!  
  
She quickly collected her things and made her way from the library. Now, at least, she had something to look forward to that evening!  
  
* * *  
  
A loud, echoing roar startled Cho from her dinner.  
  
"Oh, Merlin's beard," said Marietta next to her, gaping at the shocking sight drifting into the Great Hall. Cho looked up from her Cezanne noodles and gasped.  
  
There, drifting down the aisle before them was Luna Lovegood, looking typically dreamy as always. But her oversized Gryffindor lion hat had garnered everyone's attention; though its presence in the Great Hall was nothing new, its appearance this day was greeted with definite shock at the Cho's table, as next day's Quidditch match pitted Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw! She was openly siding against her own house, the traitor!  
  
"Just look at her," intoned Marietta darkly under her breath. "Why doesn't she just transfer to Gryffindor, for Rowena's sake?"  
  
The straggly-haired blonde made her way past the now forceful jeers and taunts to the Gryffindor table. What's more, Cho noticed with ever growing irritation, Hermione Granger, of all people, had saved her a seat! Even worse, that particular spot just happened to be directly across from Harry...  
  
Look at him, with that grin painted on his face! thought Cho hotly. She's a liar and a traitor, Harry! Wake up!  
  
"I can't believe Flitwick tolerates that," intoned Lisa Turpin from across the table, throwing down the remnants of her bun in disgust. "When was the last time she sat at her own table, anyone remember? Because I sure don't! And now look at her, rooting against her own House!!"  
  
Cho felt her ire building up a head of steam right along with the others. Though she greatly admired Flitwick, it was true that he was frustratingly tolerant of Loony's antics, though she'd never really paid it much heed until now. She glanced at the High Table. The diminutive Charms teacher was currently engrossed in conversation with Professor Sinistra; either he hadn't noticed Luna's arrival (though how could he not?) or else he hadn't found her open support of a rival House at all objectionable, shocking as that was.  
  
"Well we're going to get some satisfaction today, at least," said Cho. "Everyone's going to see her for the little fabricator she is."  
  
"Eh?" said Lisa in confusion as Marietta looked on expectantly. "What's that? What's going on?"  
  
"Just wait," said Cho, glancing up and down the Ravenclaw table, though it was hard to tell who else was waiting for the evening's opening act; most everyone's attention had been drawn to Loony's ridiculous lion hat. Cho wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but the thing seemed to roar louder every time she wore it.  
  
It was only a few short minutes later when Peeves suddenly materialized at Cho's table with a pop, Marietta and Lisa giving a start.  
  
"Ooo, here you go," said Peeves gleefully, dropping an empty vial in Stephen Cornfoot's potatoes before flying off, cackling madly.  
  
"Okay, I think that's it, get ready," said Cho, eyeing Loony Lovegood in anticipation.  
  
"Cripes!" exclaimed Stephen in a shrill whisper, holding up the empty vial before his face, eyes wide in horror. "He used the whole bloody thing! I told him three drops! Criminy, Snape's going to have our heads for this – "  
  
"Uh, what's that going to do, anyway?" asked Stewart Ackerly, seated across from him. "It's kinda more then we'd planned, ain't it?"  
  
Stephen groaned and leaned forward, elbows on the table and holding his head in his hands. "Forget Loony, all right?" he said gloomly. "We're the ones who're going to get killed tonight...how are we ever going to find another vial of this stuff now?"  
  
"What did you guys do, exactly?" asked Marietta, eyeing them curiously. "What was in that thing, anyway?"  
  
Stewart turned to her. "Well, Ivan swiped some – "  
  
"Stuff it!" interjected Stephen sharply, jerking up from his despondence abruptly. "We're in enough trouble as it is! Oh, I knew we should never have trusted that blasted Poltergeist!"  
  
"Why, what did – "  
  
They were interrupted by a clatter of metal on stone followed by a loud shriek from the Gryffindor table. Cho snapped her head around to see Luna Lovegood standing ramrod straight up on the bench, arms outstretched, her oversized lion hat having fallen onto Hermione Granger next to her.  
  
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!" called out Luna loudly, her eyes frighteningly wide and looking slightly crazed. "PLATYPUSES DO LIKE PICKLES! YOU CAN NEVER DEPEND ON YOUR EYES WHEN YOUR IMAGINATION IS OUT OF FOCUS! HIMALAYAN GORILLA BIRDS ARE NOT EXTINCT! THESE IS TOO SUCH A THING AS – "  
  
Most everyone at the Ravenclaw table was openly laughing and giggling with the exception of Stewart Ackerly, who was looking at the loudly ranting girl with a look of despair.  
  
"Luna, have you gone completely mad??" asked Hermione Granger, pulling on the girl's sleeve as Harry, Ron, Ginny and Neville looked on, mouths agape. "Come down from there! What's gotten into you?"  
  
" – WATER TAKEN IN MODERATION CANNOT HURT ANYBODY! MOUNTAIN SQUID MAY SOMETIMES BE FOUND – "  
  
"She's gone nutters," said Ron Weasley from the Gryffindor table. "I knew this would happen someday – "  
  
Luna shook off Hermione's hold of her sleeve and climbed atop the table, knocking plates and goblets askew.  
  
"HERMIONE GRANGER LOVES WARM APPLE BUTTER! A KINDRED SPIRIT – "  
  
The Ravenclaw table was howling with laughter, though Cho felt a rather darker emotion coursing through her veins when Harry climbed up and took Luna by the shoulders as he spoke to her quietly and earnestly, trying desperately to get her to snap out of her delirious ranting.  
  
"OH, AND HARRY POTTER! A TRUER FRIEND ONE WILL NEVER FIND – "  
  
Shut up, will you, thought Cho fiercely. This wasn't going like she'd hoped.  
  
"Veritaserum?!" she heard Marietta whisper to Stewart as she looked at the raving Luna in horror. "A whole vial full??"  
  
"I told you to stuff it!" whispered Stephen harshly. "Cripes, our only chance is if no one finds out – "  
  
Some of the teachers were now making their way down towards the Gryffindor table, Flitwick in the lead. No one was bothering with their dinner any longer.  
  
"Are you insane?" hissed Marietta. "Three drops is the maximum dose! Father works with it sometimes at the Ministry, he told me once that a spoonful that can induce coma in minutes, and you gave her a whole vial??"  
  
"Blast it, both of you!" huffed Stephen through clenched teeth, his face turning red with fury. "It's that blasted Poltergeist! It's not my fault! Now for Merlin's sake, not another word or I concede tomorrow's match to Gryffindor!"  
  
Marietta gasped and turned to Cho. "You have to remove him as captain, Cho, right now!"  
  
Cho turned her gaze coldly back to the Gryffindor table. Luna suddenly stopped ranting, her silver eyes widening precipitously for just a moment before she abruptly collapsed with a crash to the table, spilling goblets and sending bowls tumbling to the floor just as Flitwick and McGonagall reached her. Hermione and Ginny Weasley both shrieked. "Cho!!"  
  
She ignored her friend's strident plea, instead focusing her burning attention on Harry's frightened gaze as he knelt down over Luna and took hold of her hand in concern. Why couldn't he have shown even a fraction of that compassion with Cho when she'd tried to talk to him about Cedric?  
  
Great time to get a conscience, Harry, she thought fiercely, now that I'm not in the picture anymore –  
  
"CHO!!"  
  
"What?!" she snapped harshly, turning on Marietta with fire in her eyes. "Look, I have no say about the Quidditch team, all right? Only Flitwick can make changes."  
  
But at that moment the head of Ravenclaw was holding Luna's pale wrist between his fingers, his wizened face drawn with concern.  
  
"Her pulse is very erratic," she heard him intone, looking up at an obviously worried McGonagall.  
  
"She's taken a lethal dose!" whispered Marietta desperately, grabbing hold of Cho's hand. "We have to tell them!"  
  
"No one's going to die," said Cho, pulling her hand back sharply and avoiding her friend's gaze, her eyes fixed on Harry's anguished face as she felt her insides burning. "There's the infirmary right here, and anyway, I'm sure they'll figure it out on their own without any help from us."  
  
"Oh...I can't believe you!" said Marietta painfully. "We're talking about someone's life here!"  
  
"Well it's not like the world is going to miss that loon any," said Stephen darkly. "And in case you get any ideas, I know you still have that book you 'borrowed' from the Restricted Section."  
  
Marietta slowly shook her head, staring at him with disbelief. "You...you're a monster, is what you are...I can't believe this," she said hoarsely. "I just can't – "  
  
"Headmaster," said Professor Snape as he drew near the Gryffindor table. "I believe I recognize these symptoms. I've seen them before – "  
  
"Indeed, Severus," echoed Professor Dumbledore, he and the Potions Master having joined Flitwick and McGonagall at the Gryffindor table. "As have I, I'm distressed to say. We must convey Miss Lovegood to the infirmary at once." "Say something!" pleaded Marietta to Cho just as Harry gently lifted Luna's limp form from the table and made his way quickly out the Great Hall, carrying her in his arms all the way, his friends and the teachers following close behind. Cho looked on with very conflicting emotions.  
  
Marietta looked desperately to Cho.  
  
"Remember," warned Stephen ominousy. "One word and it's expulsion for you."  
  
"I don't know you anymore," choked Marietta. "I can't believe you'd be so apathetic, even about Loony; if she dies you're going to be a murderer!"  
  
"Will you keep it down?" hissed Stephen, waving a hand in a stifling motion. "She's not going to die, alright?"  
  
But this hardly placated Marietta. "It'll be on your head if she does!"  
  
With that, she rose from the table, face flushed with anger as she stormed out of the Great Hall.  
  
Stewart leaned forward. "You don't think she might actually – "  
  
"No," snapped Stephen abruptly, cutting him off. "Now drop it, all right?"  
  
The Great Hall was now awash in murmurs and hushed conversation. Cho overheard a girl from the Slytherin table somewhere behind her.  
  
" – she's faking it, I'm telling you. It's another one of her shows, you know how she is – "  
  
"Maybe she's under the Imperius?" suggested another.  
  
"No, it's an act, I'm positive."  
  
"I think maybe Weasley hit the nail on the head for once," voiced another. "I think maybe she really is nutters!"  
  
Cho smiled. Well, it hadn't been a total loss, at least... 


	2. Mixed Feelings

TORMENT AND TURNIPS  
  
CHAPTER 2 - MIXED FEELINGS  
  
Cho could hardly believe her luck. Although entirely coincidental, she'd gotten a reprieve of sorts when Snape cancelled the previous day's afternoon Potions classes while he and Flitwick investigated the case of the missing Veritaserum. Or at least, Cho assumed that's what they were doing; so long as she had another chance at her assignment, that's all that really mattered. Cho had therefore taken full advantage and had made it a point to finish her paper the very next morning.  
  
By now Hogwarts was abuzz with endless gossip about the events of the previous evening; the general consensus currently going through the grapevine seemed to be settled on two possibilities: either Loony Lovegood had fabricated the whole scene to some unknown end, or that she had finally slipped over that precarious edge and fallen headlong into that world of self-delusion she so finely straddled. Luckily for Stephen and his accomplices, Cho realized, the students didn't yet appear to suspect she'd been the victim of Veritaserum poisoning.  
  
It was with an unexpected sense of relief that Cho greeted the news that Loony had survived the night thanks to Madame Pomfrey's expert ministrations; despise the girl though she might, Cho had no wish to see anyone lose one's life through some botched practical joke!  
  
Cho's stomach had twisted into angry knots when she noticed Harry and his other Gryffindor friends so conspicuously absent during the day's lunch. No doubt they were all visiting the little fibber in the Hospital Wing and giving her all the attention she so desperately craved. Cho supposed that Luna should even be grateful to the conspirators; after all, she was now the subject of the hour throughout the school!  
  
Cho had spent the day swinging back and forth between a curious mix of satisfaction and frustration. On the one hand, most of her fellow students now seemed to think Loony was more senseless than ever, but Harry and his group had apparently included the girl as one of their own, and to such an extent that Cho found herself silently cursing the events of the previous night. And how could Hermione Granger, of all people, be so blind to Loony Lovegood's manipulations? At least she had a brain! And Harry...well, he clearly didn't know how to tell the good from the bad at the best of times...  
  
She sighed as she closed her copy of Quidditch Weekly and dropped it on her night stand, gazing out through the window above her bed, the rain clouds of the previous day having been replaced by a dark, starry canopy twinkling back at her.  
  
Though she didn't particularly feel up to it, she decided she may as well make the rounds. She had a feeling she wouldn't be getting much sleep this night, anyway.  
  
She drew herself quietly out of bed, donning her shoes and robes before heading down the spiral staircase to the deserted Ravenclaw Common Room, the crisp crackling emanating from the fireplace the only sound to be heard. She walked by the hearth, her fingers drifting along the back of the chair that Marietta usually occupied when they would gather with their friends after classes and go over the latest gossip.  
  
There'd been no such gathering that evening, however. Marietta was still upset at both Cho and the conspirators, and had gone up straight to the dormitory after dinner.  
  
Cho gazed at the empty chair and sighed. She could understand why her friend had gotten so upset at the conspirators, but it hadn't been Cho's idea to slip Veritaserum into Loony's drink in the first place, after all; hopefully she would come to realize that.  
  
She left the fireplace and walked to the notice board, staring at the false notice her housemates had posted that afternoon. Their fabricated password was emblazoned clearly on the parchment in a very credible imitation of Flitwick's handwriting. Cho flipped the paper over and read the real password on the reverse side one more time to commit it to memory.  
  
She let the paper drop back against the notice board, recalling the exuberant glee from Orla Quirke earlier that day as she explained to those in the Common Room about their plan to keep Loony in the dark about the change. Though Cho had briefly questioned the timing of this latest prank, she consoled herself that it at least did not endanger anyone's life as the last one had, even though inadvertently.  
  
She made her way down the dark, narrow corridor and pushed open Gondoline Oliphant's painting, emerging into the moonlit hallway. She almost immediately gave a start at the forlorn figure squatting in the corner only a few feet away. Cho hesitated before stepping closer, cautiously letting her eyes acclimate themselves to the relative darkness.  
  
She took a step closer; it was Loony, she could see now, huddled in the corner and obviously fast asleep. Cho blinked. She hadn't expected her here so soon, having assumed she'd still be in the infirmary, at least until tomorrow. What was she to do?  
  
This was most unexpected. She loathed being the one to have to wreck Orla's plan, but could she just leave Loony there like that? True, someone would eventually give Luna the real password anyway, but at least her housemates will have had a chance to relish their fun.  
  
She decided the best course was to pretend she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. This prank hadn't been of her doing, after all. Besides, it was completely harmless; it wasn't like there were dangerous beasts roaming the halls at night! She turned to leave, stopping just before turning the corner to give Luna one last glance. Strange as it was, seeing her like this, her robes acting as a blanket and her folded-up scarf doubling as a makeshift pillow, was causing bizarre emotions to creep through her; a notable tightness gripped her throat.  
  
Oh, get a hold of yourself, she thought. It's just Lying Loony Lovegood, after all.  
  
Just then she noticed Loony was trembling slightly in her sleep. Cho swallowed hard. The castle floor was no place to spend a night, she had to admit. The temperature was quite cool even on warm days. Now, the mid- October nights were plunging the thermometer to somewhere precariously close to freezing.  
  
She hesitated. She really couldn't leave her there...could she?  
  
Just then the memory of her chatting happily with Harry the previous day came flooding back, hardening Cho's resolve. She turned on her heel and left to make her rounds of the castle.  
  
She'd spent an uneventful quarter hour wandering the halls, encountering nothing more remarkable than the Fat Friar floating along, humming happily through the walls. At least, until she crossed paths with Mrs. Norris near the Astronomy Tower. Cho stopped in her tracks, grimacing as Filch's smelly old cat, while paying her no heed, sauntered by her before disappearing around the corner.  
  
A realization struck her. What would happen if Mrs. Norris were to come across Luna sleeping in the halls, she wondered. No doubt Filch would report her and she'd incur a severe detention, itself of no consequence though it would undoubtedly cost Ravenclaw a fair number of house points. And given the fact Ravenclaw was running a close second to Gryffindor in the race for the House Cup this year, Cho would be aghast if a harmless little prank ended up costing her House such a prestigious award. Ravenclaw had never won it since she'd attended Hogwarts, and this year was to be her last chance.  
  
It was now especially critical as Ravenclaw had edged out a rare and hard- fought Quidditch victory over their Gryffindor counterparts just that very afternoon; to suddenly throw away the fruits of that victory now was unthinkable.  
  
Harry in particular had not played one of his better games that day. He'd seemed very distracted, casting many worried looks back at the castle throughout the match, one of which had proved to have fatal consequences, as the Snitch had flown right past him, quite unnoticed. Cho, on the other hand, had made no mistake. She wouldn't make one here, either. She turned around and made her way back to Ravenclaw tower.  
  
She soon found Luna where she'd left her. She pursed her lips and knelt down, hesitantly clasping the younger girl's shoulder, shaking it gently. "Hey, wake up," she said in a low voice, very mindful of Mrs. Norris' acute hearing.  
  
To her relief Luna did not wake with a sudden yelp, but rather by stretching her arms up lazily and yawning as though rising from a usual long night's sleep. Her eyes focused on Cho's, the large silver orbs reflecting the bright moon shining in through the window above.  
  
"Hello," she said sleepily, pushing herself up to a sitting position before proceeding to carefully fold up her Ravenclaw scarf.  
  
"Um, what are you doing here?" asked Cho. "I thought you were still in the infirmary."  
  
"I was," answered Luna serenely, slipping her arms back into the sleeves of her robes. "But Madame Pomfrey said I responded quite well to her remedies, you know, so she discharged me just a few hours ago. By the way, could you let me in? I think Orla Quirke gave me the wrong password when she dropped by this morning."  
  
Cho blinked. A likely story, she thought.  
  
"If you got out hours ago, why'd you wait so long before getting back?"  
  
Luna looked up at her. "I didn't, actually," she said serenely. "I wanted to finish up some assignments before morning, you know, so I came by and waited for someone to let me in."  
  
Cho found herself feeling strangely embarrassed. "Er...I see. But...didn't anyone come by that whole time?" she asked, even though knowing full well all of Ravenclaw must have been alerted to Orla's plan.  
  
Luna smiled dreamily. "Yes, quite a few actually," she said, nodding. "But they all whispered the password, so I really couldn't hear. Anyway, could you please let me in? I really have to work on my assignments, they're due in the morning."  
  
Cho swallowed hard. Talking to Loony like this, it was hard to feel much animosity towards the girl. In fact, she found herself feeling a bit sad for her. She was certain no one had even stopped to consider that this prank might have an impact on Luna's scholastic work. Or maybe they had, but just didn't care. But the girl had just been through a dangerous dance with Death, after all.  
  
"Sure, Luna," said Cho softly, rising and moving to the painting of Gondoline Oliphant.  
  
"Medula Oblongata," she said out loud for Luna's benefit. The old witch nodded coolly as the painting swung quietly open.  
  
"Thank you," Luna intoned dreamily behind her as they crawled through the opening and emerged into the Ravenclaw Common Room. "I was told it was lamebrain, you know, but I'd gathered that wasn't it after my second try."  
  
With that she smiled dreamily and started up the spiral staircase leading to the dormitories.  
  
"Um...Luna, wait," said Cho, moving to the bottommost step. "Look, can I give you a bit of advice?"  
  
Luna stared back at her with a blank expression and said nothing. Cho wondered if she'd understood the question. Deciding to apply the old adage that silence implies consent, Cho pressed on.  
  
"Okay, look," she said. "I'm not defending what some people do, all right? Especially not after last night. But you know, Luna, you're kind of asking for it, really."  
  
The younger girl continued to stare but said nothing.  
  
Cho blinked. Was she not getting through to her? For that matter, why was she even trying?  
  
"Like that thing with the lion hat," she continued. "If you want to wear that thing against Slytherin, or even Hufflepuff for that matter, fine. But Merlin's beard, why do you have to side against your own House like that? Can't you see how you're going to provoke people?"  
  
Luna tilted her head slightly.  
  
"But my friends are in Gryffindor," she said sagely. "I really couldn't root against them. And Harry – "  
  
"Okay, fine," snapped Cho, the mention of Harry's name making her quickly drop that particular line of reasoning. "Well, what about those stories you keep inventing, about all those crazy creatures you come up with...you know people are going to see right through all that, don't you?"  
  
Luna stared at her blankly once more. Her ability to feign obliviousness was very good, Cho noted.  
  
"Through all what?" asked Luna.  
  
"All through – " blurted Cho in exasperation. "Oh, come on, stop with the act! Why do you always try and draw so much attention to yourself? You know you're just going to make yourself an easy target! Or haven't you learned that by now?"  
  
Luna's large silver eyes gazed back at her, unblinking. "I'm sorry, but they're quite real you know," she said, taking an unexpected step backwards in the conversation. "There are always new eyewitness accounts being published, and Daddy's hoping to organize an expedition next summer to – "  
  
"Oh – " said Cho, her frustration growing exponentially by the moment. "Why do I even – WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"  
  
Luna gazed at her quietly, looking no more offended than if she were contentedly observing a goldfish in an aquarium. Cho found this non- reaction infinitely more infuriating than any potential verbal retort, as it made her feel a bit absurd, as though she were heatedly arguing with a wall.  
  
She pressed on hotly. "You don't expect me to believe you actually swallow all that rubbish your father dishes out through that magazine of his, do you? It's a farce! Wake up, for – "  
  
But she cut herself off at the sudden change in Luna's demeanour. For the briefest instant, Cho thought she saw a flash of emotion in the girl's large silver eyes.  
  
But the expected retort never came. "Excuse me," said Luna coldly, "but I think I'll go work on my assignments now." She turned around and headed back up the stairs, her long dirty blonde hair flouncing sharply with each step.  
  
Cho slapped the wall with the palm of her hand in frustration. Here she was, with fire in her heart, the object of her irritation having just removed itself from within range of her ire.  
  
Cho took a deep breath and counted to ten as her Gran had taught her.  
  
Why was she so angry, anyway? Cho pondered...she'd lost her temper so easily...  
  
It was as though an inner rage had briefly consumed her for an instant and clouded her judgement. She'd even yelled at Luna. She wasn't predisposed to shouting, certainly; why had she done so now?  
  
But then...why had Luna stuck to her ludicrous guns? There was no one around to try to impress or otherwise influence, after all. Didn't she ever drop the act, Cho wondered? She'd acted as though she hadn't done anything even remotely objectionable –  
  
But regardless, Luna had seemed perfectly willing to talk, at least until Cho had blown up at her. She supposed she really couldn't blame her for leaving; Cho herself might have reacted much more harshly if someone had erupted at her in such a fashion.  
  
She sighed and looked up the staircase, deciding to make one more attempt at getting through to the girl, for her own sake. Maybe no one had ever bothered to sit down with Luna for a real heart-to-heart, she realized. Though Luna would never be popular, maybe, just maybe, Cho could convince her to stop playing the eccentric enough to avoid the worst of her housemates' increasingly spiteful shenanigans.  
  
She quietly walked up the staircase to the fifth floor girl's dormitory and gently cracked open the door, immediately spying Luna, standing in the centre of the room with her back to her, staring at a bare section of floor.  
  
"Luna?" whispered Cho, mindful of the sleeping bunkmates.  
  
The girl seemed to not have heard, drifting over to a small night stand and running her fingers delicately through some sort of shattered debris atop it. Cho suddenly realized. There were four beds in the room; a room which housed five students.  
  
She came up quietly to stand next to Luna, who was staring down blankly at the smashed fragments atop her nightstand.  
  
"They vanished your bed..."  
  
"Hmmm? Oh, yes," said Luna, waking from her apparent trance and smiling strangely at Cho, though there didn't seem to be any remaining trace of bitterness. "Well, I have to work on my assignments tonight, so I probably won't have much time for bed until tomorrow anyway. And it's not like I haven't slept a bit already, after all."  
  
Luna drifted over to her trunk, which mercifully had not been destroyed or otherwise made to vanish, Cho noted thankfully. She opened the lid and pulled out some parchment, a quill and a few books before straightened up, gazing for a moment at the brightly glowing moon shining through the small window above.  
  
"Oh, I really was set on looking for some Grylliwegs tonight," she said softly before closing the trunk lid and turning to face Cho. "Daddy said if I ever find one he'll want me to write an article about it in The Quibbler!"  
  
Cho blinked. There she was going off with those make-believe creatures again!  
  
"Er...Grylliwegs?"  
  
Luna nodded, her large silver eyes widening excitedly. "I've been getting close over the last few weeks, I think," she whispered earnestly. "I'm almost certain they live in the northwest part of the Forest, somewhere beyond the stream, I'd imagine."  
  
"You can't be serious!" whispered Cho incredulously. "You mean you go off into the forest in the middle of the night?" "That's right," said Luna matter-of-factly, turning and pointing up at the glowing white sphere in the sky. "The conditions are just perfect for a sighting tonight too, see? Well, maybe tomorrow, then..."  
  
She turned back around and made for the staircase.  
  
Cho gently took Luna by the arm as she passed by, the younger girl stopping and staring at her, looking mildly surprised.  
  
"You're going to report this, aren't you?" said Cho, nodding to the gaping, empty space where a bed once stood. "This is getting a bit ridiculous – "  
  
Luna shrugged slightly. "Oh...no, I don't think so," she said serenely. "I can always sleep somewhere else, after all. I don't really need much anyway. Well, I really have to get to my homework. Sleep tight!"  
  
With that, the younger girl quietly slipped through the door and headed down to the Common Room. Cho watched her leave, biting her lip as conflicting emotions ran amok through her. Even if Luna was an attention- seeking sort, that was no excuse for the kind of tricks people were doing to her. These pranks were not meant in jest, they were aimed to hurt...  
  
She walked over to the night stand and leaned close, examining the debris. She ran her fingers lightly through the shattered husks; upon closer inspection they appeared to have been acorns, now crushed almost beyond recognition, with bits of twine mixed in. Cho didn't understand; a simple Reparo spell could've undone this damage...why hadn't Luna bothered?  
  
She let her hand drop limply to her side. Was this the sort of thing Luna went through every day? Given the girl's apparent lack of surprise at finding destroyed remnants of her belongings, it appeared to be the case, shocking as that seemed. And why on Earth didn't she want Flitwick to know about it?  
  
Cho sighed softly as she gazed at the unmoving forms dozing contentedly in their warm, comfortable beds. This wasn't right. Cho began to wonder in earnest about everything that had transpired here over the last five years...  
  
* * *  
  
Cho woke up with a start. She'd been having a vivid dream; she'd been carried off by a large crimson dragon, only to have been dropped from a great height, jerking violently from her nightmare a fraction of a second before hitting the ground. She bolted up into a sitting position, breathing hard and glancing about the room nervously. Her bedsheets were twisted about and thrown aside, partly dragging on the stone floor. Her heart was racing; the dream had seemed so vivid! But it had been a dream, after all, else she wouldn't be lying there wide awake and staring at her sleeping friends in the faint light of the early morning dawn.  
  
She rubbed her eyes and looked at her bedside table. Her Gran's small antique clock revealed it was just past five.  
  
She waited a few moments to let her breathing slow to a more manageable rate before throwing her feet over the side of the bed and donning her slippers. There wasn't much point in trying to get back to sleep now, she knew. There was less than an hour to go before she would normally get up at any rate.  
  
She glanced over at Marietta, deep in sleep with one arm sprawled over the side of her bed. They'd hardly spoken since the Veritaserum disaster two days previously. Cho found herself gravely missing the habitual early morning banter.  
  
Cho rose from her bed and slipped into her robes before heading downstairs. There was one good thing about rising so early, she conceded. At this hour there wouldn't likely be any lineup outside the showers, at least.  
  
She stifled a yawn as she emerged into the Common Room, her eyes immediately falling upon Luna's unmoving form, curled up in one of the large divans near the fire, her Ravenclaw robes splayed out over her, the sleeves hanging down over the armrests. Her books were stacked neatly on the small table next to her.  
  
Cho decided to leave her be; there was nothing in the rules that barred someone from sleeping in the Common Room, and it wasn't Luna's fault she no longer had a place to sleep, after all. She hoped that at least the Elves would notice the missing bed during their nightly cleaning; maybe they could replace it somehow?  
  
As she passed the divan, Cho saw a long parchment laying atop Luna's books; she stopped and peered closer out of curiosity. How would such an oddball put her thoughts down on paper, exactly?  
  
Just as she turned the paper around Cho was startled by a loud booming bark ring out in the room. She spun around in alarm, wondering if some large dog had somehow managed to slip past all the castle's wards and made its way straight into the Ravenclaw Common Room. To her surprise and relief, there was no sign of such a dog, or any animal, for that matter. Yet she was sure she hadn't imagined the sound –  
  
"Hello," said a vague and sleepy voice behind her. She turned around to see Luna stretching her arms lazily in the air.  
  
"Did you hear that too?" asked Cho, hoping Luna had been roused from her slumber by the same bark that had so startled her; at least that way she'd have some reassurance that she wasn't somehow going mad.  
  
"Hmmm? Oh yes," answered Luna, flipping her robes onto the armrest of her chair and rising gracefully. She took her wand and tapped the parchment lightly with its tip, a soft blue glow briefly enveloping the paper before dissipating.  
  
"I'm sorry if it startled you, but I really couldn't afford to lose this," she said seriously. "I wouldn't have had a chance to do it over again before this afternoon if it went missing."  
  
"Oh...well, that explains it," said Cho with relief. "Luna, are you sure you won't change your mind? About reporting your missing bed, I mean? I can talk to Professor Flitwick if you'd rather – "  
  
Luna stared at her for a moment and smiled slightly. "No, that's all right, really," she said.  
  
She gathered her books and quill from the table. "Well, I think I'll go have some porridge downstairs. Would you like to come? I'm sure Harry won't be down, especially so early."  
  
Cho gasped. "What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
Luna stared at her with those slightly unnerving, unblinking silver eyes. "Well, you haven't been to any DA lessons all year," she said serenely. "Ginny said you and Harry got into a rather bad row last year over Marietta."  
  
Cho glared at her. "Oh, well," she said angrily, "I suppose Harry's going around telling everyone in Gryffindor what a sneak Marietta is and what a bad influence I am, then?"  
  
"Actually, he hasn't," said Luna. "Harry told me he couldn't understand why you supported her. He really felt betrayed, you know. I think it did him some good to talk about it, though."  
  
Cho felt a strong urge to scream rising precipitously inside her. "Oh, he can open up to you then, can he?" she snapped, her vision becoming slightly cloudy with tears. "So now he's Mister Sensitive, all of a sudden, is he?! Well, good for you!"  
  
Cho turned on her heels and stormed back up the staircase to the top floor dormitory, all thoughts of showers and breakfasts now forgotten, throwing herself onto her still warm bed and burying her face in the pillows, their downy stuffing muffling her sobs.  
  
A few moments later she felt a hand gently touch her shoulder.  
  
"Leave me alone!" she weeped, burying her face deeper in the linens.  
  
"Hey, what's wrong?" whispered Marietta, Cho feeling the side of her bed droop slightly. "Are you – oh Cho, I'm so sorry! It wasn't you I was upset with, really, it was that git Stephen Cornfoot! He was just so...so...oh, please don't cry – "  
  
Cho felt Marietta hugging her awkwardly, one arm lightly draping itself across Cho's shoulders.  
  
"I'm sorry," whispered Marietta painfully, "I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have taken it out on you – "  
  
"It's not that," sobbed Cho. "It's...it's...":  
  
"What?"  
  
"...it's...oh, I don't even know anymore..." said Cho despairingly.  
  
"I think I know what this is about," whispered Marietta slowly, stroking Cho's hair consolingly. "You still think about him, don't you?"  
  
Cho felt a tightness in her chest. "Yes," she choked after several long moments of silence. "I...I really thought I was over all that..."  
  
"It's going to take time," said Marietta softly. "It doesn't help any that you never got to say goodbye."  
  
Cho swallowed hard. She was talking about Cedric –  
  
But then, why shouldn't she? Cedric had been caring, he'd understood, he'd listened...  
  
She buried her face into the pillows again, unable to bring herself to correct her friend. She let the encroaching wall of despair and grief wash over her without resistance... 


	3. Realizations

TORMENT AND TURNIPS  
  
CHAPTER 3 - Realizations  
  
Cho carried her broom roughly parallel to the ground as she made her way through the busy, sun_drenched inner courtyard, eager, for once, to leave the gossip and social circles well behind. Her eyes darted through the scattered students, catching a glimpse of Colin Creevy in the midst of an animated discussion with Stewart Ackerly, hurriedly taking notes. Over on the courtyard's far side she saw Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley engaged in an equally intense conversation, Cho quickly averting her eyes when the Gryffindor prefect looked over in her direction.  
  
Her anxiety increased sharply as she heard Hermione calling after her. She looked straight ahead and pretended not to hear, instead increasing her pace until she'd marched out the main gate at a brisk clip, her long black hair fluttering behind.  
  
She kept up her rapid march, following the well-worn path until she'd made her way past Hagrid's hut, the Gamekeeper's patch of huge pumpkins stacked up behind the dwelling in preparation for the upcoming Hallowe'en feast. Thankfully the huge teacher was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Cho chanced a glance behind her, intensely relieved to see she wasn't being followed. She slowed her pace at last, suddenly feeling a bit self_conscious at having so brusquely avoided the encounter. It wasn't like she still held any ill feelings toward Hermione Granger, after all. It had become rather clear that Harry didn't have eyes for the Gryffindor prefect, unlike what had once been reported by the Skeeter woman.  
  
At least not any more, what with Loony Lovegood in his life. And Hermione had always been quite decent with Cho, after all, though the Ravenclaw was still a bit suspicious of the circumstances behind Marietta's inexplicable hex of the previous year. But really, Hermione didn't seem the type to be so ruthless...  
  
Cho's feeling of guilt increased slightly at the thought of having deliberately ignored her.  
  
But then, she wasn't in much of a mood to chitchat at the moment. Much less with one of Harry's best friends! Indeed, she'd come here to try and clear her mind and put her anxieties aside – she could hardly berate herself for indulging in that little luxury, could she?  
  
But what had Hermione wanted, anyway? To be sure, they had little in common academically, Cho being a year senior to the Gryffindor. Certainly it couldn't have to do with the D.A., Cho having dropped out of that organization since the start of the school year.  
  
Well, I suppose it couldn't have been that important, she mused, as much to console herself about her rather abrupt departure as to subdue her curiosity.  
  
She saw the setting sun glittering through the forest's branches up ahead. The school play would be starting in about an hour or so, though she'd declined her friends' invitation to accompany them to the troupe's second recital, even despite Marietta and Lisa's repeated attempts to change her mind. Right now, she just wanted to be alone, with her broom being her only company in anticipation of flying through the cool autumn sky, forgetting her troubles and worries. Even if only for a few hours.  
  
She continued to follow the meandering path along the forest's edge as it led down the hill towards the Quidditch pitch looming in the distance. She saw with relief the absence of anyone flying about the playing field. She hadn't bothered to go and book it, there being no team practice scheduled for that day anyway.  
  
She drew in a deep breath of fresh autumnal air with satisfaction. There, at least, she could free herself briefly from all the constraints of being Head Girl; there, out on the Pitch and astride her broom, responsibilities would drift off like early morning mist. The burdens of her position could finally be lifted from her aching shoulders, albeit temporarily. Her pace quickened once more.  
  
It was therefore with more than a little dismay that she greeted the sight presented before her upon her arrival at the Pitch's main entrance. There, standing right in the middle of the playing field, were the two people whom she least wanted to see at this moment. Especially together.  
  
Harry was grinning and holding his Firebolt loosely over his shoulder, seemingly content to listen as Luna prattled on excitedly about something Cho couldn't discern at this distance. The straggly-haired girl also had a broom at her side, one of Madam Hooch's old and decrepit school dusters by the looks of it.  
  
Cho felt a weight pressing down upon her. Nothing was going right –  
  
Just then Harry uttered something that caused Luna to suddenly drop her broom and cup her hands over her mouth, her airy, childlike giggling nevertheless slipping through her fingers well enough to reach the Ravenclaw Head Girl's burning ears.  
  
Cho couldn't bear to watch any more. She whirled around on the spot and stormed angrily back the way she'd come, a fire raging in her chest. Harry had never been so at ease and so full of merriment with her...  
  
She heard Luna give a shriek of mirth back at the Pitch behind her. Cho quickened her pace, her eyes stinging, though she had no idea where she should go; all that mattered at the moment was getting away from the sound of the infuriating laughter in the distance. It was becoming fainter, but frustratingly slowly for Cho. She reached Hagrid's hut once more, though she hardly noticed such a meaningless detail, what with her mind searching desperately for answers to the pain in her heart –  
  
She took a deep breath and counted to ten as her Gran had told her to do in such times of stress. Why couldn't she just let it go, she wondered. Harry had clearly gone on with his life without a second thought to Cho, so why couldn't she? It couldn't be because of Luna, could it? The odd girl clearly was getting on famously with Harry. Had been doing so since the start of the school year, in fact. And all this when Cho hadn't even managed so much as one successful date.  
  
She wasn't subconsciously competing with Loony Lovegood, was she?  
  
Oh, how ridiculous, she thought. Of the two, Cho definitely had the better life, of that there was no question. There was nothing to be envious of Luna about. Cho was popular, she had friends, she'd been made Head Girl and was a key member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. What accomplishments could Loony boast of? Aside from having an entire House conspiring to make her life miserable, that is?  
  
So why then, was Cho the one walking despondently back to the castle with a heavy heart, cheeks damp and feeling utterly miserable, while that rustic waif of a girl, tormented by her housemates for years and a hopeless social outcast, was laughing and having the time of her life? It wasn't right. Nothing made sense anymore...  
  
"Cho!"  
  
She was startled from her doldrums by the sound of someone uttering her name, realizing with apprehension that she'd walked all the way back into the castle courtyard without really taking notice, Hermione and Ginny having intercepted her before she'd even realized where she was going. There was no avoiding them now. At least, not without making a mockery of the school rules and flying off on her broom...  
  
"Oh...hi," she replied tiredly, hoping that whatever they wanted to discuss, it would be mercifully short.  
  
"I really need to talk to you," said Hermione earnestly. "Do you have a minute?"  
  
"Don't listen to her, Cho," interjected Ginny, looking rather piqued, Cho thought. "You can go on in if you like – "  
  
Cho frowned. Couldn't these two get their stories straight? What was going on here?  
  
Hermione did a half turn back to the younger girl. "Ginny, will you let me handle this, please?"  
  
"Fine!" exclaimed Ginny, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. "But I'm telling you, you're just going to make things worse – "  
  
Hermione cut her off by addressing Cho. "It's about Luna," she said seriously, the Ravenclaw's unease augmenting sharply. "Cho, you've got to do something about everything that's going on. It's gone too far!"  
  
"What?" asked Cho cautiously, though she had a very good idea what Hermione was alluding to. "What's gone too far?"  
  
"Nothing," said Ginny, pulling on Hermione's sleeve. "Nothing at all. Forget we mentioned it. Thanks for stopping by. Have a nice – "  
  
"WILL YOU – " blurted Hermione loudly, jerking her arm free of the younger girl's tenacious grasp. She turned back to Cho.  
  
"All these shenanigans, Cho," she continued. "Did you know Luna almost died two nights ago? Someone slipped Snape's whole supply of Veritaserum in her pumpkin juice, if you can believe it! Do you have any idea how irresponsible that was? And Ginny's just been telling me someone jinxed Luna's cauldron in Potions class this afternoon; Snape gave her a royal tongue_lashing, and it wasn't her fault! And he gave her a nil grade besides all that! Now if they're going to start affecting her scholastic – "  
  
"Eh, just a second there, Hermione," interrupted Cho. "I can't ask Snape to reverse his decision, he'd laugh in my face, and that's if I'm lucky! I don't think even Professor Flitwick could convince him to – "  
  
Hermione shook her head. "I'm not asking you to talk to Snape," she said reassuringly. "But you've got to talk to the other students, Cho. Things are really getting out of hand."  
  
"Me?" asked Cho, aghast. "What would you have me do, exactly? Have all Ravenclaw turn against me, too?"  
  
Hermione took a deep breath. "You're Head Girl, Cho," she said carefully. "That carries a lot of responsibility, one of which is the well_being of the students in your House. And Luna is a Ravenclaw, wether you like it or not. Look, can't you just call a meeting? They're not going to turn on you just because you tell them to stop – "  
  
"That's what you think," countered Cho. "Your little friend there hasn't exactly made herself a favorite in Ravenclaw lately!"  
  
"She never was!" shot Ginny hotly, her cheeks flushing as she took a step closer. "Just because she marches to her own drummer isn't any reason to – "  
  
"Oh please!" exclaimed Cho. "She doesn't march, she floats!"  
  
"Oh, great!" snapped Ginny loudly, her eyes blazing angrily. "So you hate her too! I should've known better than to expect – "  
  
"Ginny, please!" interjected Hermione hastily. "You're not helping!"  
  
"FINE!" squawked Ginny, turning her back to Hermione and kicking at the ground in frustration.  
  
Hermione sighed and took a deep breath before pressing on. "Cho, you've got to tell them to stop what they're doing, really. I mean how far are they going to go?"  
  
Cho barely listened as she glanced over Hermione's shoulder, seeing Colin Creevy scurry away from a satisfied looking Stewart Ackerly, notepad in hand. He disappeared quickly into the castle.  
  
"Look," said Cho wearily, "nothing I can say is going to dissuade them, all right? It might even encourage them to just try harder."  
  
"That's what I said," interjected Ginny once more, turning back to face the two older girls. "I know these types, Hermione. They're just looking for any sign they're getting to Luna."  
  
Hermione shot her friend a look of irritation. "Look," she said to Cho, "can't you at least talk to Flitwick?"  
  
"She won't like it!" warned Ginny.  
  
Hermione turned on her brusquely. "Well, Ginny – what would you suggest?" she fumed. "You're the one who came to me with this! Why are you so determined to – "  
  
"I'm just saying," countered Ginny in a carefully measured tone, "that you can't go charging into this blindly. You have to take Luna's feelings into account."  
  
Cho took a half step back. She was becoming very anxious to get away from this conversation.  
  
Hermione gasped. "I'm doing this because of Luna's feelings!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Are you?" asked Ginny. "She's really self_reliant, Hermione, haven't you ever noticed? She likes to handle these things on her own. She won't like it if you start charging in and making – "  
  
"There," said Cho, jumping at the opportunity presented to her, "see? Ginny's summed it up right there, you should listen to her. She's known Loon – Luna longer than any of us have, after all." Hermione gaped at her. "Cho, how can you say that?" she asked, brown eyes wide with shock. "How would you like to be in Luna's shoes??"  
  
Cho cast her gaze in the direction of the Pitch, obscured though it was by the vine_covered walls enclosing the courtyard.  
  
"I wouldn't mind it as much as you think," she whispered more to herself than to Hermione, leaving the Gryffindor standing open_mouthed as she spun on her heel and headed back inside without saying another word.  
  
* * *  
  
Cho recalled the events of the following evening most vividly.  
  
"Oh, for Rowena's sake will you look at that?" said Mandy Brocklewurst, sneering at the strange dark figure emerging from the castle into the courtyard. Cho and Marietta looked up from their books simultaneously, gasping and ogling at the sight.  
  
"Looks like Orla's bunch have been busy again today," continued Mandy, smiling ruefully. "Never miss a trick, do they?"  
  
Cho gaped at the blacked figure of Luna as the younger girl walked serenely through the courtyard, towel in hand, heading for the castle gate. Although she was pitch black as a raven from head to toe, there was nothing else to indicate anything out of the ordinary, other than her leaving darkish footprints on the cobblestones as she walked.  
  
"Hey Loony!" called out Elenor Branstone from the other side of the courtyard, her Hufflepuff companions pointing and laughing openly at Luna. "You're looking a lot nicer than usual tonight! Tell us your secret, will you?"  
  
A band of Slytherins sitting around the fountain erupted in laughter, though Luna continued along as though no one had uttered anything remotely objectionable.  
  
"So what happened to you?" asked Mandy when Luna drew near. "You look like you've been rolling around in a pile of soot!"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, yes, well," said Luna dreamily, pausing before them and looking at one of her sleeves as though only noticing her rather odd appearance for the first time. "I was helping Orla pick up some things she'd dropped in the hall, you see, but one of her books was rather well cursed as it turns out. Anyway, have any of you seen my wand? It went missing sometime at lunch, and I really do need it back, I have Charms tomorrow."  
  
"Um, no I haven't," answered Cho. "Nope, sorry," echoed Mandy. Marietta shook her head in the negative, staring at her book and never looking up at the soot_covered girl.  
  
And covered she was. It was all over her, Cho could see. Her robes, already black beforehand, didn't took all that different, though her long, normally dirty blonde hair was now the coloration of the Potion Master's. The only bit of color still visible were her large, misty silver eyes, looking more prominent than ever, surrounded as they were by all the blackness. Cho shuddered. She would not be pleased if something like that happened to her.  
  
Luna nodded serenely and moved off once more in the direction of the gates. Cho swallowed hard. Much as she hated to admit it, things were getting out of hand...  
  
She jumped up from the bench and scurried after Luna, ignoring Mandy's surprised shout behind her. She quickly intercepted the soot-covered girl just as she neared the gates and drew her wand.  
  
"Here," she said softly, waving her wand in a circle over Luna, "I'll scourgify you. Hold still."  
  
Luna smiled dreamily. At least Cho thought she smiled; it was very hard to tell under all that stuff.  
  
"Well, thank you, really, but that's all right," she voiced airily. "Ginny already tried, you see. They've hexed it quite well, actually; it seems to be quite resistant to magical cleaning."  
  
"Oh," said Cho, lowering her wand. "Well, why not try the showers, then? I'm sure with a bit of water that'll come right off."  
  
"I tried, actually," said Luna conversationally. "But they wouldn't let me in, so I thought I'd go wash off in the lake."  
  
She held out her towel as unnecessary evidence of her intentions  
  
"Eh? Who wouldn't let you in?" asked Cho, frankly stunned; her intense anguish of the previous day quickly giving way to an altogether different sensation.  
  
Luna stared at her blankly for several moments. "Well, the others, you know," she said slowly and shrugging slightly. "Anyway, I really do have to go wash up – "  
  
"But – Luna, the water's freezing!" protested Cho, her outrage growing by leaps and bounds at the sight of the laughing Slytherins behind Luna.  
  
"Oh, it's not so bad, really," said Luna vaguely. "I still have a towel, after all. And I am a rather fast runner when I have to, so I'll make it back in plenty of time before hypotherm – "  
  
"No, look," interrupted Cho, holding out her wand. "Here, take it. You can use it to at least stay warm or dry your clothes or something. It's probably not a perfect match but it's still better than freezing. You can give it back tonight, just leave it in the dorm, all right?"  
  
Luna didn't so much glance at the proffered wand, instead staring blankly at Cho, her expression unfathomable.  
  
"Look, will you just take it?" blurted Cho irritably, thrusting her wand closer to the younger girl. Why did she have to just stand there like an idiot?  
  
For just a moment, Cho thought she saw Luna's hand shift slightly, though when she looked down it was back at her side, unmoving. What was wrong with this girl? Was she that thick headed? How'd she ever manage to get sorted into Ravenclaw?  
  
"Well, thank you," said Luna, smiling dreamily. "But I'll be fine, really. I'll just – "  
  
"Oh for – " said Cho in exasperation, grabbing hold of Luna's grimy wrist and shoving the wand in her hand. "Here! Just take it! Merlin's beard!"  
  
She stormed off before Luna could utter any reply, marching briskly past the startled stares of her companions, eyes fixed straight ahead and without saying a word, disappearing into the myriad halls of the castle.  
  
* * *  
  
Cho quietly closed the door behind her and leaned back against it, letting its worn oak surface support her exhausted body as she let out a tired sigh. She rubbed her eyes and looked about the dormitory; her housemates were by now all snugly wrapped in their beds, hardly surprising considering the hour. Indeed, if it hadn't been for the monthly meeting of the Head Students of the four Houses that night, she'd be snoozing peacefully along with her bunkmates at this very moment.  
  
As it was, she pushed off from the door with an effort, judging she had just enough energy left to make it to her waiting bed over by the window. She trudged over, her feet sliding lethargically along the floor, her arms hanging low and limp like an ape's until she finally made bedside. She looked at the beckoning pillows and silently promised to join them in short order.  
  
She hadn't even pulled an arm out of her sleeves when she heard a light pecking at the window; she looked up. Galahad, her grandmother's old tawny owl, was perched on the ledge outside and staring down at her impatiently with large yellow eyes.  
  
Now what? she wondered, flipping open the latch and opening the window, whereupon the owl dropped down onto her bed with a riled hoot. Judging from its irritated glare, Cho estimated it had been waiting there for some time.  
  
She hastily opened the drawer of her night stand and fished out several owl treats for the grumpy looking bird before she sat on the edge of the bed and removed the parchment tied to its leg.  
  
She and unwrapped the parchment and turned it right side up.  
  
"Dearest Cho,  
  
How are your studies going? And for that matter, about everything else  
at Hogwarts? I'm afraid we don't get much news in this part of the  
continent, aside from Muggle papers and tele, that is.  
  
Although the last four weeks visiting the Americas have been very  
enjoyable, I must say I am really starting to pine for my dear old  
Liverpool; I'm certain my watercolors have missed me as much as I've  
missed them.  
  
By the way, did you know, that here in Alaska, they have the loveliest  
– "  
  
Cho flipped the parchment over. It went on and on all the way to the bottom of the reverse side.  
  
Well, it's nothing urgent, she concluded, entirely too tired to be able to retain much of it this night anyway. She folded it back up and dropped it in the open drawer, deciding to save it till morning.  
  
It was upon closing the drawer that she noticed her wand wrapped it a sheet of parchment on her night stand. She frowned for a moment, until her tired brain recalled having given it to Luna earlier that evening. She carefully unwrapped the paper, noting a flowing script etched on the inside, curious as to its content. She flipped it over and started to read.  
  
"Dear Cho,  
  
Thank you for loaning me your wand. Although it really wasn't  
necessary, it was quite sweet of you to offer. I really didn't want to  
lose it as it wasn't mine, you know, so I gave it to the giant squid  
for safekeeping while I washed up. You know what they say about the  
squid, he is quite playful and subject to flights of whimsy, but he  
does take his job very seriously!  
  
Anyway, I came straight over after I was done. Hope you find it where  
I left it...  
  
Thank you again,  
  
Luna"  
  
Cho lowered the parchment to her lap and sighed. Had Luna even used her wand?  
  
She couldn't even begin to fathom the girl. Her stubborn refusal to react to the constant persecution from her peers was inexplicable enough, but why did she have to be so equally stubborn about refusing help? Goodness, but the girl made no sense!  
  
She was startled by an annoyed hoot next to her. She'd quite forgotten about Galahad!  
  
"Oh! Sorry about that, you can go," she said softly. "I'll send off a reply to Gran tomorrow, all right?"  
  
With that the owl gave her one last irritated glance and flew off through the window into the night sky.  
  
Cho drew up and closed the window, snapping the latch shut before dropping Luna's parchment down into the drawer. Just as she went to push it shut she spied some more handwriting on the back of the letter. Curious, she took it back out and held it once more up to the moonlight.  
  
"P.S.: You know, I've noticed you do seem rather sad lately. If I may  
make a suggestion? If you ever go to the kitchens, ask Dobby to make  
you one of his decadent chocolate puddings with strawberries on top,  
it has a very therapeutic quality to it (not to mention it's also  
rather sublime!).  
  
P.P.S.: I hope you don't mind, I borrowed your quill to write this,  
mine seems to have wandered off..."  
  
"What??" whispered Cho to no one in particular, frowning in confusion at the parchment before her. She re_read the sheet to make sure she hadn't somehow misread the words.  
  
That's what it says, she concluded, though it hardly served to clarify matters any. Chocolate pudding? Strawberries? Wandering quills? Why did the girl have to be so consistently nonsensical about everything?  
  
Well, thought Cho, she was right about one thing...  
  
The last few weeks had been some of Cho's worst at Hogwarts. Every time she'd seen Harry that year her heart had pained her terribly; even more so the when she'd see him with Luna – the two were obviously forming a close friendship and perhaps more...  
  
But why did she feel that way? There was nothing left to salvage, that was painfully clear. It couldn't do any good to keep hoping for the impossible...  
  
She looked at the note in her hands. She couldn't keep going like this, she realized. She'd been miserable all year, and what had it gotten her? She had to put it behind her once and for all. When she really stopped to think about it, Luna had never truly done anything to merit what she was going through.  
  
And for that, she would need to make her peace with Luna. In fact, it was her inability to do just that which had come so close to costing the girl her life a few days before. Cho shuddered at the thought; could she really have allowed pettiness to have blinded her thoroughly? It hardly seemed possible, but the events of recent days seemed to indicate otherwise...  
  
She threw the note back in the drawer and pushed herself off the bed. She made her way quickly to the staircase, her legs finding renewed energy. Even if she had to wake her...  
  
She descended the stairs to the tower's fifth floor dormitory. She entered the room quietly, quickly realizing her quarry's absence upon noting the glaring dearth of furnishings in one part of the dormitory. It now seemed as though Luna's trunk and night stand had joined her bed somewhere in the realm of oblivion.  
  
Cho glanced up and took a half step back. There was a large banner hanging from the ceiling over where a student had once slept. She strained to make out the words in the dim moonlight...  
  
"NO FREAKS OR LOONS ALLOWED."  
  
Cho gasped. That's...oh, that's...  
  
She leaped in the air and violently snatched the banner out of the air with one hand, tearing it from the ceiling before ripping it up furiously into tiny bits. She threw the shredded pieces in a rage at the nearest bed.  
  
"YOU – YOU DESPICABLE – "  
  
"Eh...what..." the nearest girl mumbled, stirring groggily from her slumber.  
  
Cho was shaking with fury, her eyes stinging with tears.  
  
"ANIMALS! ALL OF YOU!" she screamed, before turning on her heel and slamming the door behind her with such force that the hinges creaked ominously. She fell back against the door and slid down to the floor, tears of fury streaming down her cheeks as she weeped for reasons she couldn't quite understand.  
  
It's not right, she screamed in her thoughts, no one deserves that!  
  
She wiped her eyes as best she could with trembling hands. Why was she sobbing so uncontrollably? She didn't even like Luna, really!  
  
But nothing, absolutely nothing could excuse the kind of mistreatment Cho was witnessing. A lying fibber Luna might be, but she'd certainly never done anyone any harm, as no one in their right mind would believe her stories anyway. But this was going beyond cruelty...  
  
Cho waited until her sobs gradually subsided and her breathing slowed to a more manageable rate, wiping her tear stained face on her sleeves, her damp hands by now having little benefit. Cho knew it couldn't go on like this. Luna had not only lost virtually all her possessions (including her wand!), but now, she no longer even had a home within Hogwarts, no small corner of the castle to call her own. Something had to be done, and soon.  
  
But what exactly? She recalled Ginny's warnings to Hermione Granger the previous day. How would Luna react if Cho went to Flitwick with all this?  
  
Where was she, anyway? It was well past midnight now; where would she go now that she no longer had a place to sleep? Cho thought. What if –  
  
Cho wiped her eyes one last time before pushing herself up from the floor. She descended the staircase, making her way down the twisting steps to the Common Room, whereupon she spied Luna's unmoving form in the same divan she'd found her sleeping in two days before, her Ravenclaw robes draped over her once more in their improvised role.  
  
Cho hadn't noticed her there when she'd passed through earlier, though this was hardly surprising considering she'd been virtually sleepwalking at the time.  
  
She quietly took the other chair on the other side of the fireplace. There were no books stacked neatly on the table now, nor quill or parchment, for that matter. There was just Luna herself huddled forlornly under her robes.  
  
And yet, the girl did not carry a sad countenance in her sleep; indeed, she looked strangely peaceful, her head resting against the nook of the chair's backrest with her robes tucked snugly under her chin, as though mercifully oblivious to her ever worsening predicament.  
  
Cho sighed. What was there to do? Luna couldn't go on with her schooling without a quill and parchment at the very least, she knew. Yet she had the distinct impression that Luna would politely decline any replacements Cho might proffer. Why did she have to be so frustratingly independent?  
  
An idea flashed in Cho's mind. What if she were to run upstairs, get a quill and some parchment, and simply leave them on the table here next to her? That way it would be anonymous. Would Luna finally put her pride (or whatever it was) aside and accept a tiny bit of help? Cho thought it was worth a try.  
  
Which is the very moment she realized two large silver eyes were staring back at her.  
  
"Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise, instinctively drawing back quickly even though they were well separated by the table between them. "I – I'm sorry, Luna, I didn't mean to wake you."  
  
The girl smiled sleepily and drew her robes up tighter as she gave a slight shiver.  
  
"That's all right," she voiced softly. "I would've had to wake up soon to change sides anyway. If I didn't my legs would get rather numb come morning, you know."  
  
Cho forced a smile, though she felt her emotions threatening to rise uncontrollably within her once more.  
  
"Luna," she said quickly, hoping that talking would help alleviate the anguish she was feeling right now, "I – I've got a spare quill I can let you have; I'm sure I can get Marietta to part with a few reams of parchment too, she has loads – "  
  
Luna smiled and stetched lazily, her mismatched socks peeking out from under her makeshift blanket.  
  
"Well, that's quite sweet of you, really, but I can manage," she said. "Anyway, what are you doing down here? It's rather late, isn't it? Your wand isn't missing, is it?"  
  
Cho blinked. "No, it's not the wand, Luna. I...I was just..."  
  
She took a deep breath. The time had come to put her cards on the table.  
  
"Look," said Cho, struggling to keep her emotions from overwhelming her, though she noted a slight quiver nevertheless in her own voice, sounding strangely disembodied, "I was just down to your dorm, Luna...and...well...everything's gone!"  
  
Luna stared at her blankly.  
  
Cho waited for some reaction. Seeing none forthcoming, she pressed on. "Didn't you hear? There's nothing left, they've taken everything! Your bunkmates!" "Yes, I know," voiced Luna softly. "It's not so bad, though, really. Ginny's been keeping my schoolwork in her trunk since yesterday, so I – "  
  
"Arrggh!" exclaimed Cho, seriously tempted to pull her hair out by the roots. "Come off it, Luna! Will you stop pretending? I'm trying to help, okay? Stop trying to make believe everything's just peachy all the time!"  
  
Luna blinked. Once.  
  
"I never said it was," she said slowly in a very measured tone. "But it's not good to dwell on bad things, you know. I find it tends to make people miserable."  
  
Cho gaped at her. "You...you're deluding yourself, Luna!" she said. "Just fight back, for heaven's sake! Why do you let yourself be their doormat like that?"  
  
Luna seemed positively puzzled by Cho's suggestion. "Why would I fight back?"  
  
"Why??" asked Cho, stupefied. "Because they're going to drive you mad, is why!"  
  
Luna smiled serenely. "No, I don't think there's any chance of that," she said confidently. "Actually, they seem to be wasting a lot of time and energy on trying, really. It's quite odd, don't you think? I much prefer to spend my time doing things that I find interesting."  
  
"I can't believe this," said Cho in exasperation. "Wake up, Luna! How can I help if you won't even admit there's a problem?"  
  
Luna smiled. "Oh, well, they'll tire eventually, you know," she said. "They always do, in the end."  
  
Cho was flabbergasted. "I just – this – I can't believe – have you ever told anyone about what goes on?? What do your parents say about all this? Or do they even know?"  
  
For once, Luna's gaze faltered, her large silver eyes staring at the foot of Cho's chair.  
  
"Luna?" asked Cho gently, becoming quite concerned at the girl's sudden change in demeanour.  
  
Luna looked back up at her, a strange smile forming on her face.  
  
"No," she said softly, "they don't."  
  
With that, Luna shifted over to the other side of the divan, leaning her head into the corner of the chair's padded backrest, closing her eyes and tucking her robes in snugly under her chin once more.  
  
"Well, goodnight," she whispered, effectively and unexpectedly putting an end to the conversation.  
  
Cho stared at her for several moments, stunned and regretful, before rising from her chair and making her way slowly to the staircase leading up to the dormitories. She hadn't even had the chance to talk to Luna in any meaningful way, but there was no question of pressing the matter right now; Cho had the distinct impression she'd touched some sort of deep_rooted nerve.  
  
She climbed the first three steps before pausing, casting back one last glance at Luna. Her heart sank at the sight of the girl, her eyes open more and glistening, as she stared blankly into the softly crackling fireplace with her mouth slightly open as though in a daze.  
  
Cho swallowed hard.  
  
Sweet dreams, Luna... 


	4. Torment and Turnips, Chapter 4

TORMENT AND TURNIPS  
  
CHAPTER 4 – Crumbling Walls  
  
Cho stood before the door to Flitwick's office and took a deep breath. She'd been here before, of course, but this time was different. After all, it wasn't exactly academic matters she was coming to discuss.  
  
Though the diminutive head of Ravenclaw House was nothing if not benign, Cho couldn't help feeling a certain creeping nervousness sneaking up on her. Professor Flitwick had always made his open door policy abundantly clear, but Cho didn't feel comfortable barging into his office without at least making her presence known first. Her stomach twisted slightly as she rapped lightly on the ancient oak door. She bit her lip and awaited a response.  
  
When it came a few moments later, Cho gaped in apprehension and took an involuntary step backward when the door opened to reveal not the Charms Teacher, but the black_clad Head of Slytherin House, staring down at her coldly.  
  
"Yes?" he intoned without preamble.  
  
Cho realized her mouth was gaping in shock.  
  
"I – I'm sorry, I t-thought this was – "  
  
The Potions Master raised an eyebrow at she tried to stammer out a coherent response.  
  
"I was looking for P-Professor Flitwick," she finally managed to blurt out. "I – I could've sworn this was his office – "  
  
"Miss Chang?"  
  
The Potions Master stepped to the side to reveal the source of the familiar voice. Professor Flitwick, his reading spectacles leaning low on the bridge of his nose, was seated at his desk in the midst of his rather cluttered office, a large number of unrolled scrolls scattered across the desk before him.  
  
Cho felt intensely relieved to see the tiny Charms teacher. For one thing, it proved she wasn't suddenly losing her sense of direction, but more importantly, she no longer had to deal with the decidedly unpleasant and intimidating head of Slytherin.  
  
She walked briskly past Snape and drew herself up straight before the large oak desk.  
  
"Excuse me, Professor," she said earnestly, "I need to see you about...about my assignment. I do apologize for interrupting, but it really is important."  
  
Flitwick smiled down at her from his perch atop the slightly elevated chair. "No need to apologize, Miss Chang," he said encouragingly. "Professor Snape and I had just finished our discussion, I believe?"  
  
Flitwick looked to the Potions Master, who nodded curtly in confirmation.  
  
"Indeed," said Snape dryly. "I expect the Headmaster will wish to speak with us both following these findings, Flitwick. Keeping your schedule clear for this evening would be advisable."  
  
"Of course, Professor Snape," agreed Flitwick cordially, just as the head of Slytherin cast one last look at Cho before closing the door behind him. She let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"You need not fear Professor Snape, Miss Chang," said Flitwick, a look of amusement crossing his wizened features. "While he is admittedly rather strict, he is nevertheless totally committed to the school charter."  
  
"I – he's just a bit...unnerving," admitted Cho sheepishly. "I imagined he'd be very irate after his Veritaserum disappeared, he's not exactly the forgiving sort."  
  
Flitwick's expression changed abruptly, becoming unusually serious. "You know about the Veritaserum?"  
  
Cho felt her insides suddenly tighten. What had she done? This wasn't what she'd come to talk about!  
  
"I...um...I overheard someone..."  
  
She held her breath and desperately hoped she wouldn't be asked to elaborate.  
  
Flitwick nodded solemnly. "I see," he said softly. He seemed to consider her for a moment before leaning forward, his voice adopting a slightly hushed tone, although there was no one in the room other than he and Cho.  
  
"As it happens, Professor Snape has been investigating the case of the stolen Veritaserum," he said solemnly. "And I'm afraid the evidence he's uncovered thus far points quite convincingly to Ravenclaw House. Shocking, to be sure. But his evidence, I must admit, is irrefutable."  
  
Cho swallowed hard. This wasn't going at all like she'd hoped. She had to change the subject somehow, and quickly. "As you're aware of the Veritaserum's disappearance," continued Flitwick, "I therefore assume you're equally aware that is was used very irresponsibly during Monday's dinner?"  
  
"I...I do," said Cho in a tiny voice.  
  
Flitwick sighed. "I must convey to you, Miss Chang," he said carefully, "the seriousness of this infraction. The dosage used was quite lethal. Had Madame Pomfrey not been close at hand, the consequences would have been...dire."  
  
His words were not lost on Cho.  
  
"I know," she squeaked.  
  
The Charms teacher nodded. "So, if you can shed any light on this matter, Miss Chang," he said, "it would be of great assistance in our investigation."  
  
Cho's shoulders tensed as she thought of the resulting consequences. Would Steven Cornfoot retaliate by ratting out Marietta in turn for her book, dragging her down with him? There was no way to be sure. But Cho was determined not to risk her best friend's expulsion.  
  
"I...I overheard s_someone mention Veritaserum in the library," she said nervously, "but I didn't see who it was."  
  
Cho held her breath and desperately hoped Flitwick wouldn't ask her anything more. Actually lying to the Charms teacher would be altogether different form withholding information.  
  
"I see," said Flitwick after several long moments of silence. He drew back into his chair. "Well...I do hope that if you hear anything more that you will seriously consider bringing it to my attention, Miss Chang?"  
  
"I will," she choked. Something in Flitwick's expression told her he was seeing right through her, and it was making want to run out the door as though she were having her ankles gnawed on by Blast_Ended Skewts.  
  
Flitwick nodded slowly. "Well then," he said in a slightly more normal tone, "what can I do for you, Miss Chang?"  
  
"P_Professor?"  
  
The wizened teacher smiled benevolently. "You came to see me, as I recall," he said. "You said you wished to discuss your assignment?"  
  
But Cho was beyond such discussions now. All she wanted to do was to get out before she inadvertently ended up getting her friend booted out of school.  
  
"I...it's not...I didn't..."  
  
"Miss Chang?"  
  
She pushed off from the chair. "It...it'll keep," she said hoarsely, turning back and running from the room until all she could see through her clouded gaze were the drab stone walls rushing past her on either side and a multitude of curious stares...  
  
* * *  
  
"By the way, did you hear?" said the Hufflepuff girl seated at the table behind Cho. "Someone found out why Loony's so...well, 'loony'..."  
  
Cho's ears picked up. Her eyes were still fixed on the book on the table before her, though her attention had quickly shifted to the conversation behind her. There was a momentary pause that made Cho think the girls had left, though the true reason quickly became evident when she saw Madam Pince drift by as quietly as a House ghost while observing the students severely.  
  
The conversation resumed once she'd returned behind the counter, though it was at a much lower pitch.  
  
"I heard about that! Laura told me all about it this morning," a different voice affirmed in little more than a whisper. "It does explain a lot, doesn't it?  
  
"Definitely," the first voice replied. "I knew there had to be a reason for her living in her bubble world like that, but I'd never figured..."  
  
"Yeah," the second voice agreed. "Poor thing."  
  
"Think they're going to investigate?" the first voice asked. "Now that it's out in the open and all?"  
  
"Well, I think they'll have to, won't they?" the second replied quietly. "I mean, if this ever got out into the Prophet or something and they did nothing – "  
  
Cho snapped her book shut and quickly threw her parchment and quill into her bag. Something was going on, and she wagered it wasn't likely virtuous by the sounds of it. Maybe Marietta or Lisa had heard something, she thought.  
  
She drew up from the table and left the library, judging that her friends would likely be outside at this time, in preparation for their Care of Magical Creatures class that afternoon.  
  
She made her way down to the main hall, stopping at a gathering of fifth year Gryffindors congregated around the notice board within a stone's throw from the courtyard. Ginny Weasley was at the rear, standing on tiptoes trying to see the latest edition of Colin Creevy's school newsletter over the heads of her housemates. They were all quite silent; something in their demeanour made Cho uneasy.  
  
"What is it?" Ginny was saying, straining to see over the heads of her companions. "Come on, somebody crouch or something, let me see!"  
  
But no one seemed to be paying any heed, their attention strangely fixed on the notice board. Cho took a step closer and strained to see, but being hardly taller than Ginny she had no better success.  
  
"Oh...come on, get out of the way," snapped Ginny at last, losing patience as she squeezed herself through the small grouping, coming to stand before the board. None of the students had uttered even the feeblest protest at having been so abruptly jostled.  
  
"What's all the fuss?" asked Ginny. "Oh, big deal. We all know the score, the game was just a couple of days ago – what, oh this? Oh okay, let me..."  
  
There was a prolonged silence as a few of the Gryffindors who had finished reading turned away, their expressions serious and stunned. Had someone died?? Cho wondered.  
  
There followed a sudden gasp as Ginny suddenly reached up and violently snatched the newsletter from the board.  
  
"Hey!" exclaimed one of the Gryffindors. "I wasn't done with that – "  
  
But Ginny ignored his protestation, staring at the paper and shaking her head. "No...oh no..."  
  
Cho took another step closer. "Ginny? What is it? What's going on?"  
  
The young Gryffindor spun around, her eyes wide as saucers.  
  
"Where's Luna?" asked Ginny, looking to be in a state of near panic. "Tell me, Cho, hurry!"  
  
"I don't know!" replied the Ravenclaw, her apprehension growing by the second. "Why, what's happened?" "I saw her heading down by the lake just before lunch," said a brown_haired Gryffindor whose name escaped Cho at the moment. "She might still – "  
  
Ginny didn't wait a second longer, bolting for the courtyard as Cho dropped her books to the floor and sped off after her.  
  
"Ginny, wait!"  
  
The young Gryffindor was fleet of foot, forcing Cho to sprint as fast as she could to keep up as they ran through the courtyard, eliciting several curious stares, then down the grassy hill past Hagrid's hut. Cho called after Ginny several times, though this had generated no response from the red_haired girl. At least, none that Cho could understand.  
  
"...can't...believe...this..." said Ginny breathlessly, seemingly to herself, as they ran down along the meandering path that followed the lakeshore.  
  
"Can't...believe...what?? Wait up!!" yelled out Cho from behind.  
  
A figure finally came into view at the forest's edge a short distance up the path. Cho was thankful; she was beginning to doubt she could maintain such a pace much longer.  
  
"LUNA!" cried out Ginny as the waif-like Ravenclaw drew up from a patch of cattails up ahead and gazed curiously at their approach.  
  
"Hello," said Luna when Cho and Ginny had finally reached her, both girls by now breathing hard. "Is everything all right? Or are you two racing? I'd say Ginny was the faster, but then I didn't see the start – "  
  
Ginny thrust the newsletter into Luna's hands.  
  
"Here," she said in between gasping breaths. "Tell me it isn't true, Luna. Please tell me...it isn't true!"  
  
Ginny's voice held more than a trace of desperation. Cho's stomach tightened as she fought to bring her breathing down to a more manageable rate. What had happened??  
  
Luna stared at Ginny for a moment before looking at the paper.  
  
"Yes," she said dreamily after reading the headline. "As I recall, that was the final score, wasn't it? I wasn't able to watch the match, of course, but I heard about – "  
  
Ginny shook her head. "No," she said quickly. "Below that. Oh Gods, Luna, tell me this isn't..."  
  
Luna looked down at the paper once more, her large silver eyes scanning back and forth as she read along, Cho watching with ever growing concern as they grew wider with every passing line.  
  
Cho's apprehension swelled as Luna suddenly let go of the paper as if holding so much hot coals. The partly torn parchment drifted lazily to the ground as Luna took a halting step backwards as though worried the paper might rear up and bite her.  
  
Ginny took a step closer. "Luna?" she said in a choked voice. "It...it's not true, is it?"  
  
The straggly_haired Ravenclaw slowly drew her gaze up to meet Ginny's. Her eyes, Cho could plainly see, were eerily wide and misty. It seemed to take several long moments for her to realize Ginny's question, to which she slowly shook her head, though this hardly seemed to satisfy the young Gryffindor. She reached for her friend.  
  
Luna pulled away and took a sudden step back, running a pale and badly shaking hand back through her long straggly hair. Cho could see something was terribly wrong; Luna's eyes were glazing over and she was breathing rapidly through her mouth. The younger Ravenclaw was looking in every direction, as though desperately searching for something...or lost...  
  
"Luna, if...if it isn't true we're going to get to the bottom of this," said Ginny earnestly, reaching once more for the young Ravenclaw. "Come on, let's go get – "  
  
But Luna had taken another step back, ogling Ginny as if she were a two_headed dragon. Her breathing was becoming ragged. Cho took a step closer; the usually serene girl seemed to be on the verge of hysteria.  
  
"Luna?" choked the Gryffindor, "Hey, it's me! It's Ginny!"  
  
Luna swallowed hard and closed her eyes for several moments, balling her fists tightly at her sides. When she re_opened her eyes she seemed to reestablish an all too tenuous hold on her sanity, directing an unfathomable gaze at her friend.  
  
"This – " she whispered hoarsely, pointing to the newsletter on the ground. " – is the worst lie...it's...it's...Ginny...please...you MUST BELIEVE ME!"  
  
"I do," said Ginny raspily, her eyes reddening. "I believe you, Luna..."  
  
Luna staggered backwards and turned around, taking several unsteady steps towards the lake before collapsing to her knees and burying her face in her now violently shaking hands. In an instant Ginny was on the ground at her side, wrapping her arms around Luna's trembling shoulders protectively.  
  
Though Luna did not cry out, Cho could see that it was a losing battle. Ginny shut her eyes tightly as she drew Luna into her and held her close, whispering something that Cho couldn't hear from her vantage point, having been shocked into immobility by the sight before her.  
  
Her eyes were stinging as she swallowed hard, glancing down at the paper a few feet away. She carefully picked it up and began to read.  
  
Loony Lovegood _ The Shocking Facts  
  
Most of us will no doubt recall the strange events at Monday's dinner. While certainly causing a spectacle, Luna "Loony" Lovegood's apparent mental fluctuations have a root cause that was revealed to the Hogwarts Express by a highly credible source.  
  
It is with considerable shock that this reporter has learned that, as it happens, Luna Lovegood's constant drifting in and out of reality all these years has stemmed not from any inbred condition, as some have previously thought, but rather from her suffering continuous and violent abuse at home. While these beatings (and perhaps worse, rumour has it) have inexplicably never been acted upon by the Ministry, the witnesses to these events serve to give pause to one's previously uninformed opinions of Luna Lovegood's odd behaviour. So as a lesson to be noted, the next time one witnesses someone acting strangely, please do remember there may well be mitigating circumstances behind such actions, odd though they may be.  
  
It is unfortunate that such parental behaviour still exists, let alone tolerated, in this day and age. While the physical bruising may heal, the emotional scars – "  
  
Cho let her hand drop limply to her side. She felt she was going to be sick...  
  
She staggered over to where the two girls were weeping in each other's arms, falling limply to her knees and gently rubbing her hand in circles on Luna's back.  
  
"I believe you...I believe you..." Ginny was whispering, her eyes shut and tears streaming down her face, one hand cradling the back of Luna's head in a desperate attempt to bring her comfort.  
  
"It...this was really foul..." whispered Cho. Ginny's eyes flew open and glared at her.  
  
"What's wrong with you people?" she cried angrily, her voice hoarse.  
  
Cho shrank back. "It...it wasn't me...I didn't..."  
  
But the glare Cho received in return spoke volumes. As far as Ginny was concerned, it was obvious, Cho was just as guilty as those who had perpetrated the insidious act.  
  
Cho knew immediately what to do. "I...I'll make this right..." She drew up, her legs feeling strangely weak, her arms feeling like dead weights. Her inaction had allowed things to reach this point, she knew with sickening realization.  
  
She looked back at the spires of the Castle up on the hill, looking at one window in particular, up on the second floor near Gryffindor tower.  
  
"Colin Creevyyyyy!"  
  
She marched off, drawing her wand from her robes and clutching it so tightly her knuckles were white. Consequences be damned, she thought. She couldn't let this go on, no matter what.  
  
She stormed through the courtyard, ignoring the muffled, disembodied questions from her friends and the stunned gazes of the onlookers. All that mattered now was setting things right. Colin would retract that story immediately or face her wrath. She might get in serious trouble, perhaps even expelled, but a line had been drawn. A line, which she realized painfully, which should have been drawn long, long ago...  
  
She marched up the main staircase to the second floor, heading down the hall to the small room that served as Colin's office from which he wrote and published the school newsletter. Usually closed, she was surprised to find it half open.  
  
Regardless, she marched in forthwith, in no mood for social niceties.  
  
She was fully prepared to scream at the offending Gryffindor at the top of her lungs, so the sight which greeted her upon entering threw her completely off balance. Not only was Colin not present, but the small room was a shambles. There was an large charred area on the wall just opposite the door, the desk was upended and leaning in a corner, upside down and with two of its legs snapped off. Papers were strewn throughout the small room, and the small magical printing press along the side wall appeared to have been partly melted. Cho looked around. There were several other scorch marks on the side walls and the floor. What had taken place here??  
  
Just then she heard the sounds of running footsteps approach from the hall. She whirled around just as someone burst into the room. Her breathing suddenly ceased.  
  
Harry stood frozen in the doorway, looking at her with raging green eyes.  
  
No one spoke. Cho's lower lip trembled.  
  
Finally Harry lowered his wand. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a very strained voice.  
  
Cho swallowed with difficulty. "I...I was l-looking for – "  
  
Harry's eyes suddenly widened. "You're behind this," he whispered ominously, "aren't you??"  
  
"No!" cried Cho, her voice trembling. "N-no, Harry, I was just – "  
  
But the sight of his pained face made her voice falter. He slowly shook his head, raising his other hand and pointing a trembling finger at her.  
  
"If you ever do anything else to Luna," he warned hoarsely, "so help me..."  
  
"B-but – Harry!!" Cho took a desperate step forward.  
  
But he was gone. 


	5. Torment and Turnips, Chapter 5

TORMENT AND TURNIPS  
  
Chapter 5 – Painful Discoveries  
  
Cho made her rounds almost in a daze that night. The halls and corridors had seemed to take on a darker tone, almost as though they were reflecting her innermost thoughts. Whether it was her imagination getting the best of her or not, Cho could hardly tell, preoccupied as she was with the sickening sensation which had dwelled in her stomach all day long. She'd had hoped that by forcing herself into her usual routine the feeling would gradually abate, but instead it had only gotten worse, to the point that she'd ended up skipping dinner entirely. She was at a complete and utter loss as to what to do, having seen neither Luna nor Colin since the horrific revelation earlier that day.  
  
That said, there was no help forthcoming at the moment, as Flitwick had been in meeting with Snape and the Headmaster all evening long, and Cho was entirely too intimidated by Professor McGonagall to turn to the stern head of Gryffindor House. No, she would have to wait until morning to bring this matter to light, terrible weight pressing on her shoulders or not.  
  
Quite aside from the terrible feeling in her stomach, Cho had been fuming with herself with increasing vehemence. Why had she waited so long before acting?? All could have been avoided if she'd only reacted at the first signs...in the library...but she'd been blinded by...  
  
But then, she never thought it would get so far out of hand. The trick with the Veritaserum had been highly dangerous, but it hadn't been planned that way, after all. And how could she have predicted that such pranks would escalate so abruptly into vicious and heinous personal attacks?  
  
Cho's stomach twisted into knots as she realized she was slipping into her habit of making excuses for herself. No, she would not allow herself that luxury any longer. She would not permit herself to fall into that trap of self-disillusionment again. Doing so had already caused so much pain...and for what?  
  
She walked along the gloomy corridor, seeing but not seeing, her mind so far from her patrolling duties that it was fortunate there were no gaping pits in the floor, lest she plummet straight down into one.  
  
She sighed. She would tell Flitwick everything, she'd decided. Stewart Ackerly would be severely disciplined at the very least, perhaps even expelled. But that no longer mattered. And if he should try to follow through on his threat against Marietta, Cho would take full responsibility for the missing book. While she likely would not share Stewart's fate, her position as Head Girl would likely be at an end. It would be a small price to pay, considering everything...but how to explain it to Gran? She'd been so proud when she'd found out...  
  
Worse, Harry clearly thought she was in league with her Housemates. She knew it was useless to try to explain; having done nothing to prevent the vile acts against Luna, Harry certainly had no reason to believe Cho was anything else than a willing participant in them. He'd caught her in Colin's office, to boot, which would do little to alleviate his suspicions.  
  
What had happened in there, anyway, Cho wondered? Someone had obviously trashed the place, that was clear, but...  
  
Cho stopped in her tracks. She was certain she'd heard a sound emanating from the school trophy room just up ahead. There should be no one in there at this time of night other than perhaps Filch, but she'd crossed paths with the cantankerous old Caretaker down on the first floor only minutes ago. He couldn't possibly have doubled back and made his way up here already!  
  
Cho drew her wand and stilled her breathing. She moved forward and grasped the wrought iron handle while pressing her ear to the door. She heard it again; the sound of something metallic being dragged across a hard surface. Could Peeves be up to some trick?  
  
She lit her wand. She took a deep breath, pulled the latch on the door handle and burst quickly into the room.  
  
"Halt!" she cried at the solitary figure standing with its back to Cho.  
  
"Eek!" the female voice cried, as the figure whipped around to face the Ravenclaw, brown eyes wide with surprise.  
  
Cho gasped. "Hermione?"  
  
The Gryffindor let out a sigh of relief. "Cho! Don't do that! You scared me half to death!"  
  
"Oh, sorry," said Cho uncertainly, glimpsing an old rag in Hermione's hand. Several Quidditch trophies were out of their display cases, sitting atop a small table next to a bucket. No, no, it couldn't be –  
  
"Er...what are you doing, exactly?"  
  
Hermione looked embarrassed. "Doing? Oh, well...it's...um...I'm...serving detention."  
  
Cho's eyes widened. "Wha – you?" she asked, incredulous.  
  
Hermione looked up to the ceiling and let go a breath of resignation. "Yes, me," she admitted sheepishly. "I'm not exactly proud of myself right now, so if you don't mind..."  
  
Cho gaped at the brown-haired girl. "But...but you're a Prefect!"  
  
Hermione looked at her, her expression one of defeat. "Yes, well," she said tiredly, "Prefects aren't exempt from the school rules."  
  
Cho looked about the room. There were scores of trophies in here...cleaning them all by hand was a traditional detention that she'd been wise enough to avoid over the years. But Hermione Granger?? Curiosity got the better of her.  
  
"What'd you do?"  
  
Hermione bit her lip. "I...it's...I just lost my head, all right? It was foolish, really," she said, struggling to get the words out. "Anyway, if you don't mind, I've got to get back to cleaning these."  
  
Cho nodded and turned to go; clearly Hermione wasn't willing to go into details, but she supposes she couldn't really blame her. She was just about to reopen the door when something made her hesitate. She turned around.  
  
"Hermione," she said in a low voice, "can I ask you something?"  
  
The Gryffindor dropped her rag on the bench and faced her. "All right, but please make it quick," she said tiredly. "I was hoping to start working on an Arithmancy project tonight, until, well – " she waved her hand at the trophies on the table.  
  
Cho took a deep breath. "Could...could you talk to Harry for me?"  
  
Hermione looked honestly stunned. "Um...Cho, I don't think – "  
  
"It's not that," Cho amended hastily. "It's just...could you tell him I had nothing to do with it? The story about Luna's parents, I mean? I'd never do anything like that, I really wouldn't!"  
  
Hermione relaxed a little. "Oh, well, I suppose I can try and talk to him," she said slowly. "Have you tried telling him yourself?"  
  
Cho nodded weakly. "He wouldn't believe me," she said dispiritedly. "He thinks I'm in with Colin and the others."  
  
"Oh," said Hermione. "Well as I it turns out, Colin's not in league with them either."  
  
"What?" gasped Cho. "But he published that article in the Express! I read it!"  
  
"Yes, so did I," said Hermione. "And that's why I'm stuck in here washing trophies."  
  
Cho's eyes widened. "You mean...you're the one who...who..."  
  
"What?" asked Hermione, looking at Cho strangely. "You ransacked Colin's pressroom!" exclaimed Cho, the pieces of the puzzle coming together in her head. "Didn't you?"  
  
Hermione looked down to the floor as the tip of her foot traced small circles upon the limestone. "It's...like I said, I just...lost my head," she said softly. She looked back up at Cho. "I didn't intend to do that when I went there, I really didn't. It's just when he started denying everything I just lost it for a moment. I don't know what got into me, really..."  
  
"Well, to tell the truth," declared Cho, "I was on my way to do pretty much the same thing when Harry came in."  
  
Hermione seemed genuinely surprised at this bit of information. "You did?"  
  
The Ravenclaw nodded solemnly. "I thought that Harry was chasing after him and had doubled back – "  
  
"Oh no," interjected Hermione solemnly. "No, if Harry had gotten to Colin first..." she shuddered.  
  
"What?"  
  
Hermione sighed. "Well let's just say he'd have quite a bit worse than a splitting headache in the morning," she said. "Anyway, Colin's not the one to blame for what happened, I discovered a bit late..."  
  
Cho's eyes narrowed. "Eh? What do you mean?"  
  
Hermione seemed to consider her for a moment. "Well," she said hesitantly, "I can't go into details right now, but I think there's more going on here than meets the eye."  
  
Cho took a step forward. "Hermione," she said seriously, "I...I'd really like to help...if there's anything I can do..."  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes in turn. "Forgive me, Cho," she said hesitantly. "but I was under the distinct impression you weren't very fond of Luna. I did ask you for help with this before, if you recall."  
  
Cho swallowed hard. She did recalled, all too painfully, how she'd shrugged off Hermione's pleas only a couple of days before. It had been Cho's pettiness that had allowed things to progress to this point.  
  
But so much had happened since then. So much had changed –  
  
Her shoulders sagged. "I...I know," she said weakly. "I wasn't...thinking straight that day..." Hermione appeared strangely unmoved. "It wasn't just that day, Cho," she said coolly. "Ginny told me everything. Everything she knows, anyway. This sort of thing has been going on for years!"  
  
"B-but...I've only been Head Girl since the start of term!" she protested feebly. Something about Hermione's insinuations was striking her rather hard.  
  
Clearly, protesting had been the wrong thing to say, as Hermione's brown eyes flashed with anger. "All right then, since you've been Head Girl, have you done anything to stop it?"  
  
"I...I didn't think...it was going to get so bad..."  
  
Hermione let out a growl of frustration as she rolled her eyes. "How bad were you willing to let it get, Cho?" she asked hotly. "Ginny told me someone pushed Luna down the staircase coming down from Astronomy class last week, wasn't that bad enough??"  
  
Cho's stomach was twisting into knots. "I d-didn't know about that," she whispered as her eyes began to sting.  
  
"Oh, come on!" said Hermione irately, stomping a foot on the limestone floor. "It was right after their class! At least a dozen Ravenclaws saw it happen! I'm sure word of that spread around Ravenclaw quickly, if only to congratulate yourselves – "  
  
"Stop it! Please!!" cried Cho as she backed up against the wall. Her hands were trembling so badly her wand slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor.  
  
"That's what you should've done, Cho," said Hermione in a strained voice, her own eyes welling up with tears. "The moment you made Head Girl you had the power to do just that...but you didn't, did you?"  
  
Cho pressed her hands flat against the wall.  
  
"N-no..."  
  
Hermione was looking at her with an unfathomable expression. "She's one of your own, Cho," she choked. "We all have one little corner of Hogwarts we can call home, but Luna doesn't have even that anymore! She's lost whatever small sanctuary she ever had in Ravenclaw!"  
  
Cho's legs buckled. She slid down against the wall until she fell in a heap to the floor, burying her head between her legs as the tears came flowing.  
  
"I-I'm s_sorry!" she cried, her shoulders wracked with sorrow. "I just – I didn't – "  
  
Cho felt a hand on her arm. She raised her head slowly, her breathing ragged and mixed in with sobs.  
  
Hermione was kneeling on the floor before her, looking rather apologetic as her own tears trailed down her cheeks. "Cho...I'm the one who should be sorry," she said sadly. "I don't really mean to take it out on you, specifically; it's been getting to me lately, all this business..."  
  
She reached into her robes and pulled out a white rag, which she proceeded to tear in two, squeezing one half into Cho's hand. "Here, this one's clean – "  
  
Cho gratefully accepted the offering and proceeded to wipe away the tears, though they were considerably difficult to stem entirely.  
  
"I don't know what's wrong with me today," said Hermione plaintively as she flipped the other half of the rag over and wipe her eyes. "I just...when I saw that article, I just...exploded!"  
  
"Hermione, I know I c-can't change what happened before," said Cho sadly, "but I can stop what's happening now..."  
  
Hermione looked at her carefully. "Don't go after Colin, Cho," she said, "if that's what you're planning – "  
  
Cho shook her head. "No, I wasn't," she said hoarsely. "But...I am going to tell Professor Flitwick about all this."  
  
Hermione sighed. "I think that's the best course, Cho," she said consolingly. "Especially now that...well..."  
  
"What?" asked Cho. "Hermione, tell me, please – "  
  
The Gryffindor looked at Cho uncertainly. "Oh...all right, but please keep this to yourself for now. I think there are certain Slytherins acting in concert in all this, Pansy Parkinson for sure, maybe others. But I'm still trying to get the proof."  
  
Cho gasped. "S-Slytherins? But what do they have against Luna? She's never done anything to them! She's not even in their House!"  
  
Hermione's frowned and gazed at her foot, and for a moment Cho thought she was going to snap at her.  
  
The Gryffindor seemed to struggle with herself a moment. "Yes, well," she said slowly, "I think some of them are determined to make life miserable for anyone who happens to be close to Harry. Pansy put up that story yesterday, I'm sure of it." "She...she did?" asked Cho, stunned. The thought that other Houses might be involved sent chills down her back.  
  
Hermione looked back up at her and nodded. "Colin's going to print a statement refuting that article tomorrow. Well, as soon as he gets his release from Madam Pomfrey, anyway."  
  
"Oh...well, good..." said Cho softly. "That should make Luna feel better..."  
  
Hermione's shoulders drooped slightly. "I'm not so sure, Cho," she said sadly. "Luna's quite protective of her father. I know all too well. This really shook her..."  
  
Cho blinked. "Her father? But what about...um..."  
  
Hermione took a shaky breath. "I asked Harry about that," she said in a quivering voice. "I'd never stopped to think about it until now, why she could see Thestrals."  
  
Cho's eyes widened alarmingly. "Her...mother?" she asked, a sense of foreboding running through her as she dreaded the answer.  
  
The Gryffindor nodded solemnly, wiping her eyes once more.  
  
Cho swallowed hard. "I...didn't know..." she whispered. "Was it...when did it..."  
  
"Six years ago," answered Hermione, her voice strained. "All he told me was that it was some sort of horrible accident. I don't think anyone else knows, aside from Ginny."  
  
Cho felt her emotions rising once more as she made a silent but determined resolution. She clutched the damp cloth in her hand, sensing that it would be all too inadequate this night.  
  
* * *  
  
Cho quietly closed the painting behind her and stepped into the Common Room, dragging her weary feet across the cold limestone floor, emotionally drained and exhausted. But at least one considerable weight had been lifted from her shoulders this night; in the morning, she would go to Flitwick and tell him everything. There was no longer any lingering doubt, any question of doing otherwise; she'd may have failed miserably in her duties as Head Girl, but it wasn't yet too late to take action...  
  
One glance towards the ancient granite hearth served to remind her that she was far from the most wretched student in the school this night. Her heart sank at the pitiful sight near the fireplace.  
  
Luna was sitting in the same divan she'd adopted as a makeshift bed, though the girl beheld no trace of the serenity of previous nights. Cho bit her lip and approached slowly.  
  
Luna was staring wide-eyed into the flames, curled up as far back in the chair as she could, with her arms wrapped around her legs and knees drawn up under her chin. Her hands were tightly clutching a tiny pouch, her knuckles white with strain. The redness around her eyes and tear-stained cheeks sent painful jabs through Cho's stomach.  
  
A parchment and quill lay on the small table beside the chair, next to an unopened tiny turquoise-coloured box wrapped with a bronze ribbon and bow.  
  
Cho drew closer and knelt next to the teal divan, her hands gripping the armrest.  
  
"Luna?" she whispered.  
  
The girl gave no reaction, instead continuing to stare off fixedly into the fireplace as though its fiery embers might somehow bring relief from the pain Cho knew she was suffering. Cho could see the flames reflected in Luna's large misty eyes; the sight was strangely emulative of Cho's own inner anguish...  
  
She leaned closer, interposing herself between Luna and the flames. "Luna...hey...it's me, it's Cho..."  
  
Luna slowly stirred from her near trance-like state, gradually refocusing her gaze on her older housemate.  
  
"Oh...hello..." she whispered, in a tiny wisp of a voice.  
  
Cho went to put her hand on Luna's in an attempt to bring comfort but drew back quickly when she saw the younger girl tense noticeably and draw her legs tighter against herself, as though Cho's fingers were so many hot pokers. Luna was now staring at her with eyes that, to Cho's astonishment and grief, seemed filled with terror.  
  
"It's okay," said Cho hastily, her own eyes welling up with tears once more. "It's okay, Luna...I...I won't..."  
  
Hurt you, she thought painfully, though she couldn't bring herself to say it. She'd done exactly that through her lingering apathy over the last several days; as far as Cho was concerned, she was no less guilty than whomever had posted the horrible article about Luna's home life...but there was still time to make things right. At least, she hoped so.  
  
"I'm going to talk to Professor Flitwick first thing in the morning, Luna," she said softly. "About...about all this. It's going to stop. And Colin's going to print a denial of that article too. I thought...you'd like to know..."  
  
Luna's gaze slowly drifted down as she stared at her knees.  
  
Cho's heart sank. This wasn't helping at all –  
  
She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Luna," she began slowly, "I had a long talk with Hermione Granger a little while ago. She thought...maybe it might be better for you...if you transferred to Gryffindor. If you want I can ask Professor Flitwick for you if – "  
  
Luna's head snapped up. "No...you mustn't," she whispered with heartbreaking desperation.  
  
Cho blinked. "B-but...Luna," she choked, "Hermione said they'd be more than happy to have you! You said yourself your friends are in Gryffindor. Wouldn't you like – "  
  
Luna slowly shook her head. "I would never do that to Daddy," she whispered.  
  
Cho gaped at her. "Luna," she said softly, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind, especially if he knew what was going on here. It's not like you're leaving Hogwarts, after all."  
  
Luna slowly unfolded her legs and straightened her back in a more normal posture, though Cho was under no illusions; Luna was very fragile at the moment.  
  
She took a deep, shaky breath and looked at Cho. "Daddy was...rather pleased when I was sorted into Ravenclaw," she said, her voice little more than a faint whisper. "It was Mum's house too, you see...it...it really made him happy..."  
  
Cho swallowed hard. she recalled vividly what Hermione had told her. "Oh..."  
  
"I'll never betray her memory to Daddy," continued Luna, almost defiantly, Cho thought. "No, I'll stay in Ravenclaw..."  
  
Cho felt her emotions threatening to overcome her, fighting desperately hard to keep her voice from betraying the intense grief she now felt. "All right," she said softly. "I...I won't mention it to Flitwick, then, Luna...but I will speak to him about what happened today. And before. It can't keep going on like this – "  
  
Luna's eyes misted over. "They don't know what Daddy went through," she said in a voice so strained Cho thought it might break. "It was so hard for him...after Mum..."  
  
She trailed off. Cho saw tears start trailing down her cheeks before she drew her legs up against her chest once more. She took one more pained breath before wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face between her knees.  
  
Cho clasped her hand over her mouth in an effort to muffle the sobs that were now impossible to contain. She knew she couldn't stay; what comfort could she possibly bring to Luna in this state?  
  
She drew up from the chair and headed slowly to the staircase, taking in gulps of air as she went. She made her way slowly up the staircase, her feet feeling as though they were chained to stone Quaffles all the way.  
  
She fell across her bed without bothering to remove her robes, pressing her face into the pillows as the pain and rage converged in her.  
  
It had taken but a short while for Cho to realize she would get no sleep this night. Waiting until morning wouldn't do; while she couldn't very well rouse the head of Ravenclaw House from his sleep at this late hour, there was still something she could do for Luna now, meager as it was.  
  
She finally drew up from her bed, exhausted and drained. She remade the bed as best she could in the darkness, being too tired to bother lighting her wand. She drew ack and looked at the bed with at least some satisfaction; Luna would at least have some real blankets to sleep in this night. Cho fished out her Grandmother's quilt from her trunk and proceeded downstairs. She'd never slept in the Common Room before, but it was the tiniest sacrifice, all things considered. And besides, it's not like she would have gotten any meaningful slumber in her current state anyway.  
  
She emerged into the Common Room and was stunned to find it deserted. She approached the now empty divan and saw everything appeared as it did a short time before, all except a missing Luna. Cho drew closer.  
  
She looked at the table next to the chair. There was no doubt; the small box was unquestionably from Marietta. Cho could recognize the familiar bow pattern her friend always used. She noticed a small card sticking out from beneath the package –  
  
Her hand reached out instinctively. She knew she really shouldn't, but she wished to make sure this wasn't another attempted prank...  
  
She drew the card up to her face and read the brief inscription:  
  
"Luna,  
  
I'm so sorry to hear of your problems at home. I never knew. Anyway, I  
made this for you. I know it's not much, but I only found out today  
about your situation – "  
  
Cho sighed dispiritedly as ran her hand through her hair and dropped the card back to the table. While Marietta seemed to mean well, Cho seriously doubted stating Luna's 'problems at home' would've done anything to improve the girl's morale. She'd have to talk to Marietta in the morning.  
  
She glanced at the parchment beneath the worn-out quill, which she noticed had a broken tip as though it had been snapped under pressure. She reached down and hesitantly took the parchment from the table. Cho was decidedly uncomfortable; it felt as though she were ransacking Luna's private property. But these were far from normal circumstances, and she was experiencing a growing sense of unease. Where could Luna have gone at such an hour? Perhaps the parchment might provide a clue.  
  
"Dear Snookums,  
  
How was your week? Did you get your Arithmancy results yet? I know  
it's a boring subject, but I know you'll do well. You always do.  
  
Oh, by the way, your little rain catcher outside your window is doing  
quite well; I caught sight of a Jobberknoll up there this morning, so  
it looks like you were right after all, it just took a bit longer that  
you'd imagined (though that might be due to the lack of rain this past  
summer).  
  
I know what you're going to ask, but no, I wasn't close enough to see  
its plumage on the back, but the moment I get a better look I'll owl  
you, posthaste!  
  
Otherwise, things here are shaping up nicely. I'll have enough extra  
columns written up by midsummer that I'll only need a few days to put  
out the July edition, that way we can make a better try of it in  
Sweden next season.  
  
Anyway, I'm sending you a few extra hatchlings from the garden; I'm  
frankly surprised how well they grew, considering the lack of rain  
recently. I can't wait to see what you'll turn these into! You do have  
your mother's imagination...  
  
I'll be in London most of the weekend for a new article I'm working  
on, but I'll owl you again first thing Monday, I promise.  
  
Always believe,  
  
Love,  
  
Dad"  
  
Cho could see writing on the back of the parchment through the glow from the fireplace. She flipped it over, biting her lip at the sight of Luna's reply, a series of scribbled "I love you", repeated over and over, filling up the entire reverse side of the letter. Luna's normally languid writing became increasingly feverish and shrill with each repetition, until Cho came to a dark squiggle near the bottom where she quill tip had evidently snapped.  
  
She dropped the letter to the table. She wished she could have such 'troubles' at home...clearly Luna and her father loved each other dearly...  
  
She saw the tiny bag Luna had been clutching so tightly lying on the table, a pair of small turnips having slipped out of their confines.  
  
Cho sighed. The letter had been painful to read, particularly Luna's desperate response, and it had given Cho no clue as to her whereabouts. She looked around the Common Room and spied another parchment lying on the floor near the short alcove behind the painting leading out into the hall. She quickly walked over and picked it up –  
  
"Luna,  
  
I've been worrying about you all day. I'm not sure what's going on  
anymore, but I'd feel a lot better if I heard it from you; everyone's  
got a different story here...  
  
Would you like to go for a walk? You always wanted to show me that  
place in the forest during a full moon, didn't you? Well, it's a full  
moon tonight...I'll wait for you in the courtyard if you'd like some  
company. If not, just tell Hedwig to hoot twice when she comes back,  
I'll understand.  
  
I'm here for you Luna, if you ever need to talk. You've been listening  
to me all this time...and I've never told you how much I appreciated  
that. Now it's my turn to listen...  
  
Harry"  
  
A tear splattered down onto the parchment before Cho drew her eyes up to the window up above, fixing her gaze on the brilliantly glowing Moon.  
  
"Take care of her, Harry..."  
  
THE END 


End file.
